Bye Bye Breadtalk

I will be bidding farewell to my Breadtalk shares soon, having entered this year at 0.495, exiting at the current price of 0.67 gives me a tidy capital gain of $175/lot. More than 30% on principle.

Like most non-robot stock investors, I am affected by the emotionality of the trade. Make money, happy. Lose money, sad. To be unaffected, is a tough job.

Have not hit the sell button yet. The big "what if" question holds me back. What if the transformation in Breadtalk morphs it into a bigger F&B player with integration into the real estate business? Does management have the ability for such a play?

Perhaps?

To sell or not to sell? That is the question. OCBC encourages it, a recent stock report came with a sell call.

What bothers me with Breadtalk is the relatively poor execution of certain brands in their stable. Din Tai Fung seems to be the more successful of its siblings. Icing Room... hmm...
(Image from www.breadtalk.com)

Retail & Orchard Road

It's 2 am in the morning and I can't sleep, so here I am blogging on my favorite stock: Starhill Global REIT.

Despite the irrationality of liking one's stock too much, I love Starhill Global REIT. Part of the reason stems from it's major stake in key Orchard Road retail assets and part from being a star performer in my tiny portfolio.

In a recent The Edge Singapore feature, CEO of Starhill, Mr Ho Sing defended the defensibility of his Orchard Road properties. Starhill's stake in Takashimaya and Wisma Atria are good despite the incessant building and asset enhancements along the road. His argument hinges on the limited supply of retail space, quality supply. His argument of how Orchard Road begins and ends with sleazy joints. How true. Hence, the limited supply of quality retail space on the road that is king for retail in Singapore. 

Considering the supply of retail space to come and the price at which I've entered the stock. I'll be happy to hold for income. Be determined. This is a dividend stock. Don't sell!

In an earlier post, I defend my liking for Starhill Global REIT. For a more officious report, read Kevin Tan's analysis at OCBC Investment Research site. This is all confirmatory bias, you know, but who isn't a victim of such perceptual errors?

Ha! Merry Christmas 2012!!

Wisma Atria, always looking spectacular. 

(Image from: www.thesmartlocal.com)

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My meagre attempts at paraphrasing the idea I have. 

• The mention of shopping to a Singaporean would bring up the thought of Orchard Road.
• Mention Orchard Road and you'll think of shopping.
• The association between Shopping and Orchard Road is like BF Skinner's dog association of treats with the bell.
• Say shopping and I think Orchard. Say Orchard and I think Wisma.