Why US bank stocks are hitting 52w high?

[minority]

My parents have been buying OCBC and UOB shares regularly throughout their retirement (and before that). Every year or when there is a significant down turn they buy more. Those shares seem to have preserved their value and have provided them with a comfortable retirement income.

If you have a diversified portfolio, it can be quite stable and increase steadily over time provided you reinvest the dividends. But you have to choose your shares prudently.

always have a basket of blue chips... and a stack of gold bar at home.. plus a few condo to collect rent. that would be the ideal retirement plan.

[Shanhz]

Now you are older and wiser.

Consider it expensive tuition fee.

have you bought your 2nd pot yet? If waiting too long, it becomes more expensive and your remaining tenor on your loan is also ticking down.

of coz... my 2nd pot already bot and in the making.. wahahaha... i not asking for much, capital preservation + inflation hedge is good enuff.

yah, bank stocks are foolproof. unfortunately, i was a fool back then.

Assuming the crash occurred in end 2008 was the one that wiped out your 1st pot of gold, and you were 30 years old, it means that you are around mid-30s now. If a MM now costs around $600k, your 2nd pot of gold must reach $120k at least. I think it is better to find a partner to settle down and combine the fire-power to be safer.

my 2nd pot already grow... and much more than that.

[chiaberry]

SG bank stocks maybe OK. Not overseas bank stocks.

In my UK portfolio, I had Lloyds TSB. Dropped down to less than 10% of the purchase px. In the past would have been considered a blue chip in UK. HSBC I bought before still OK, went up again recently. I only kept those 2 bank counters. The rest of my UK portfolio are in tobacco and utilities. They give good dividends and reasonable cap appreciation medium term (short term can be a bit volatile for the utilities). Recently diversified into supermarket (Tesco) and also took a punt on Burberry when it dropped more than 25% (saw the directors buying and went in to join their party lor). My UK portfolio is for me to play-play but can still learn a few lessons there. I haven't bought US stocks. Not enough time to read up on them. Maybe when I retire...but looks like I can't retire for at least another 10 years...

[chestnut]

indeed... my first pot of gold... gone. for a young man barely 30, with 6 digit cash. very painful.

but have to move on in life.

now very careful abt my 2nd pot of gold.. die die buy ppty. at most lose 50% in downturn, but can preserve value. can't say the same for stocks.

Wa lau... Damn painful... I bot Citi at 20 also... drop 1.50, I went in, then dropped to 1... Wa Lau Now overall damage not so bad... Other stocks made... Understand how you feel... Play stocks must not show hand... Must keep ammo for better cost ave and just in case got rights issue...

So play share must always keep ammo.

[Shanhz]

SG bank stocks maybe OK. Not overseas bank stocks.

In my UK portfolio, I had Lloyds TSB. Dropped down to less than 10% of the purchase px. In the past would have been considered a blue chip in UK. HSBC I bought before still OK, went up again recently. I only kept those 2 bank counters. The rest of my UK portfolio are in tobacco and utilities. They give good dividends and reasonable cap appreciation medium term (short term can be a bit volatile for the utilities). Recently diversified into supermarket (Tesco) and also took a punt on Burberry when it dropped more than 25% (saw the directors buying and went in to join their party lor). My UK portfolio is for me to play-play but can still learn a few lessons there. I haven't bought US stocks. Not enough time to read up on them. Maybe when I retire...but looks like I can't retire for at least another 10 years...

i did whack RBS stocks in the lowest of the lowest time. mar 2009 i think. recently sold to fund my purchase. still in the money. timing is still the most critical factor.

but yah. for sgp. bank stocks.. SGX. SPH. etc.. still the "close 2 eye can buy" type as long as not too high entry price. for my 3rd pot of gold, i will keep for next stk mkt crash and whack the banks.

[Shanhz]

Wa lau... Damn painful... I bot Citi at 20 also... drop 1.50, I went in, then dropped to 1... Wa Lau Now overall damage not so bad... Other stocks made... Understand how you feel... Play stocks must not show hand... Must keep ammo for better cost ave and just in case got rights issue...

So play share must always keep ammo.

yah, rights issue is the one silent killer. all this is lesson learnt, now if enter, buy a bit, set next price point, then enter again... the next, and next. last time.. woah, cheap cheap. throw everything in. then. no ammo left. last time, never think that cheap.. got cheaper.. got cheapest.

life's like that lah.. need to pay sch fees. the earlier you pay, the better

[chiaberry]

i did whack RBS stocks in the lowest of the lowest time. mar 2009 i think. recently sold to fund my purchase. still in the money. timing is still the most critical factor.

My accountant was trying to persuade me to buy RBS stocks at one time. I think it was before 2007. I bought Imperial Tobacco instead. Heng argh! Now I am wondering if I can buy Barclays or not. I had sold a lot of UK shares in 2007 to fund my purchase of a London flat. Just as well I did that. The property will be fine over the long term (and collecting good rent) but the shares went down a lot after I had sold them. I itchy fingers. Had some GBP from an insurance maturity. Sitting in the bank account earning paltry interest. Must go and top up my trading acct.

chiaberry only has time to trade in the evening so the UK market is convenient for me. Cannot trade in SG during the day.

[Shanhz]

My accountant was trying to persuade me to buy RBS stocks at one time. I think it was before 2007. I bought Imperial Tobacco instead. Heng argh! Now I am wondering if I can buy Barclays or not. I had sold a lot of UK shares in 2007 to fund my purchase of a London flat. Just as well I did that. The property will be fine over the long term (and collecting good rent) but the shares went down a lot after I had sold them. I itchy fingers. Had some GBP from an insurance maturity. Sitting in the bank account earning paltry interest. Must go and top up my trading acct.

chiaberry only has time to trade in the evening so the UK market is convenient for me. Cannot trade in SG during the day.

heng ah! lucky you never buy RBS. otherwise sure LS in the crash. i bot it becoz my banker told me to buy... so cheap. i look at the charts. WOAH! cheapest in history. quickly jump in. haha.. lucky it was the bottom of the mkt that time.

looks like you have heavy exposure to UK. worked there before? you would hv lost quite alot on FX also. but if in fixed assets and making money for you, then over long run it is still ok.

[chiaberry]

heng ah! lucky you never buy RBS. otherwise sure LS in the crash. i bot it becoz my banker told me to buy... so cheap. i look at the charts. WOAH! cheapest in history. quickly jump in. haha.. lucky it was the bottom of the mkt that time.

looks like you have heavy exposure to UK. worked there before? you would hv lost quite alot on FX also. but if in fixed assets and making money for you, then over long run it is still ok.

Your timing for RBS was good.

I don't have heavy exposure to UK but I have some money parked there from when I worked there before. My stocks are in UK's equivalent of SRS which I had contributed while I was still working. Only a small amount, like I said only for play-play. But I find the trading account there quite user friendly and easy to look at the charts and get info about the stocks so am considering transferring more of the UK-based funds into equities. Some of the stocks are good quality and dividends decent.

Cannot park too much of my assets in UK due to inheritance tax. Eventually I will have to move everything back to SG. Am looking forward to the day we can trade UK and US stocks via CDP in SG. My other half tells me that is akan datang. I am not in banking/finance sector so I don't know the details of it. But I hope the dealing costs will be reasonable.