Dear fellow investors / readers, 

Happy 2017. Welcome back to a brand new year. The good thing about the new year is the fact it acts like a "Reset Function". We move on from the old and welcome the new. Tradeview value investing group looks forward to the new year with great anticipation and excitement. The first post for 2017, is to look at the Top 5 Sectors by research houses againt my own personal view. In line with my philosophy "Trading With A View",  this posting is to show the general market view I have for 2017. 

Once again, these writings are just my humble highlights (not recommendation), feel free to have some intellectual discourse on this. You can reach me at :

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If you all observant readers notice, there is no mention of plantation / construction  / steel sectors in my 2016's 3 year view. The main reason I did not consider these 3 sectors was because 1. weather 2. politically linked 3. Volatility. Tradeview group generally avoids GLCs and unpredictable elements when it comes to stock picking as I have the duty to ensure the downside is taken care of before I can even hope to achieve meaningful upside.

There have been many talks in end 2016 by funds / research houses that for 2017 , the following sector will be in focus :

1. Plantation

2. Oil and Gas

3. Construction

4. Selected Export counters

5. Election linked Stocks (GLCs)

I will go through each and everyone for the purposes of my readers. I do agree with some but I also disagree with some.

1. Plantation :

I think almost every investor know apart from oil and gas, Malaysia is a huge exporter of palm oil after Indonesia. The palm oil market track 2 things very closely : CPO price and weather. Both are interrelated. Current CPO price has been increasing due to the low stock pile and strong USD. Many analyst foresee that the earnings of plantation will pick up in the next QR season due to the turnaround trend it has shown for the past quarter. Many counters have shot up like TecGuan, MKH, Ta Ann, KM Loong hs started to exhibit such behaviour.  

My view : Plantation is indeed doing well and I believe next Q will do well too. However I dont think it will last through the whole of 2017. Nonetheless, it is good to have exposure to this sector. 

2. Oil and Gas :

It has been a terrible 2 years plus for the oil and gas sector. Although I called a rebound in oil and gas in March 2016, the rebound was from 35 USD per barrel crude oil to only 54 USD per barrel. Malaysia as a net exporter of oil have join in the movement with OPEC and Non-OPEC producers to reduce the global supply to stabilise the oil price. Such collective effort is the first for all and I am of the view this is good. However, we must all agree that the days of record oil price is behind us due to the ongoing movements of renewable energy, green, sustainability and most importantly, the shale oil producers. Following OPEC cut, many counters have jump up like SK Petro, Hibiscus, Uzma, UMWOG.  

My view : While I foresaw the rebound, I am not bullish for the sector. I am for sell on strength and I believe the range will be at between 55-65 USD per barrel. 

3. Construction :

Ever since the continuing distribution of infrastrucure works, some construction companies have been doing well. Specifically those that has the government contracts. This may be so, however only a handful of construction companies deliver healthy profits with the healthy orderbooks. Many supposedly big construction firms with big orderbooks have shown terrible earnings. So unlike most analyst, I am not at all bullish for construction sector. Yes, we have the HSR, MRT2,  LRT3, East Coast Rail Line and all. All these are well and good if the government has sufficient coffers to pay out or strong FDI to support these initaitive. My concern has always been our government coffers and Foregin Funds has been flowing out for 2 years straight and somehow not turning around. Government revenue is not increasing, how can they afford to support so many infrastructures? Yes, there is talk of China money and oil price rebound helping. However, all these takes time for it to translate to the bottomline of the company.

My view : I am not bullish of the sector. In fact, quite reserved. Only a handful of constructions counters are in my watchlist. 

4. Selected Export Stocks :

I have always foresaw MYR weakening after it rallied back to RM3.80 from RM4.45 in 2015. The reason was not because of Trump but the rate hike. Additionally, the risk appetite and currency flow from emerging markets back to developed markets due to higher interest rates. Therefore, I have called my private subscribers to accummulate Hevea at RM1.20, Magni RM4.20,  Superlon at RM2.35 in 2016. However, I was selective. I refused to touch FL Bhd, WTK etc. Not all companies have shown resilience like the one mentioned.  Export companies is beneficiary of weaker MYR but BNM new ruling on retaining only 25% of FOREX for export companies is not good for the export companies in the long term (short term good). Nonetheless, I am stil pro selected export counters which can show continuous growth in demand (revenue and bottomline increasing), not just companies that relies on forex translation gains. 

My view : I am bullish on selected coutners in the export sector. Especially those that can show strong . sustainable demand. This is because the domestic market is very weak. As such, it is better to have exposure to overseas income / revenue. I encouraged my subscribers to enter Poh Huat as well following the good QR. I will not claim credit for Poh Huat as many good writers and stock pickers have noticed Poh Huat way before me. However, I am joining in to advocate to collect based on the strong fundamentals. 

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Please note that I respect all investment styles and in no way saying one method of investing is better than another. I know that everyone has their own preferred method and that is what makes the market interesting. Diversity. 

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Food for thought: