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

The past month has been frustrating as well. Down another -0.8% month-on-month and now down -1.2% since inception in October 2021, all in US Dollar terms.

The US Dollar is showing signs of topping. But who knows? I’ll just continue doing what I think makes sense - to buy undervalued stocks with near-term catalysts.

The ideal stock is one that’s cheap and with no near-term challenges whatsoever. “Investing by looking forward to positive surprises”, as I like to say.

I believe that most of the positive surprises in the coming quarters will come from any of the following four themes:

• The semiconductor chip shortage ending
• A cross-border travel recovery in Asia ex-China
• Japanese exporters benefitting from the weak yen
• Tightness in commodities because of the war in Ukraine

Then, there are a few potential areas of opportunity. Where the evidence is not as clear-cut as I’d like it to be:

• China's zero-COVID policy ending - though little evidence of a recovery so far
• Falling inflation bets - because if the world is truly entering a recession, then government bonds and bond proxies should do better than, say, cyclicals

Here is my Asian portfolio as of 30 October 2022: