Disclaimer: This article constitutes the author’s personal views only and is for entertainment and educational purposes only. It is not to be construed as financial advice in any shape or form. Please do your own research and seek your own advice from a qualified financial advisor. From time to time, the author may hold positions in the below-mentioned stocks consistent with the views and opinions expressed in this article. I have positions in all of the below stocks at the time of publishing this article. This is a disclosure - not recommendations to buy or sell stocks.

Portfolio update

Ouch. A significant setback compared to the previous month.

The portfolio is down -7.2% over the past month and +1.9% since its inception last October in US Dollar terms.

What went wrong?

• The US Dollar has gone on a relentless rise against almost all Asian currencies. The Japanese Yen, in particular, is down 6.3% MoM, and the portfolio had almost 1/3 exposure to the Japanese market. And most other currencies are down 1.5-2.0%.
• Commodity stocks such as CNOOC and United Plantations have done poorly. In particular, crude palm oil prices fell from MYR 7,000/ton at the peak to less than MYR 5,000 a week ago. Oil & gas stocks also dropped with the XLE and have yet to recover.
• Several stocks, such as CNOOC and Holcim Philippines, went ex-dividend and the dividends are paid out with a lag. For CNOOC, for example, the almost 10% dividend on a 15% position means a 1.5 percentage point drop in the portfolio's value temporarily.
• Multi Bintang reached a peak right when I published my previous portfolio update, down 14% for a position representing 13% of the portfolio. No major news - it’s just a volatile stock.

In June, I became more active in buying and selling stocks:

• I increased my position in United Plantations by +68% by buying shares around the MYR 14.0 mark. The situation seems asymmetric to me.
• I increased my position in Kyushu Railway by +50% by buying shares around the JPY 2,750 mark. After spending close to a week on a deep-dive report, I have a greater conviction on the stock.
• I sold some wishy-washy holdings such as Okamoto and BAT Malaysia. Not enough conviction with China’s lockdowns potentially lasting for years and with Malaysia’s health minister Khairy Jamaluddin not exactly being pro-cigarettes.

Here is the portfolio as it stands today, 30 June 2022. The cash balance is 2.9% and is held in Malaysian Ringgit, Japanese Yen and Indonesian Rupiah.