The Edge's 2013 Stock Picks

Last year, the Edge's picks (refer to last year's post) earned a respectable 33.9%. Its top performer, Pan Utd earned 128%!), outpaced the STI's 17% gain. The updated table below:

 

	Price 2012($)	Price Now($)	Gain/ Loss(%)
Bt Sembawang	4.10	6.68	69.2
CMA	1.31	2.17	68.9
FJ Benjamin	0.30	0.29	-0.4
Genting HK	US$0.35	US$0.43	22.9
Noble	1.36	1.20	-9.8
OKP	0.57	0.55	-0.3
Pan United	0.46	0.98	128.3
Semb Marine	4.92	4.65	-0.9
ST Engineering	2.85	4.00	47.3
UOB	17.4	19.11	13.4

It has published this year's picks, and they sure are worth taking note.

Stock	Current Price as at 2013	Reasons for Upside	Reasons for downside
Auric Pacific	1.18	New mgt; potential for improved synergies with subsidiary Food Juction	Execution risks on turnaround cost increases
CWT	1.41	Differentiated offering and proxy to global economic recovery	Volatility in earnings, particularly from commodities business
Db X-trackers CSI300 Index ETF	US$8.73	Proxy to China recovery; underperformer versus local and global market	Political transition in China; reversal of economic recovery trend
Del Monte Pacific	0.86	Play on Asean consumption; possible re-rating of Philippines debt	High valuations and execution risks in new markets such as Myanmar
Indofood Agri Resources	1.30	Beneficiary of likely rebound in commodity prices; diversified player	Global economic rebound stalls and causes commodity prices to sink again
Midas	0.54	Likely to win contracts for high-speed rail as China steps up investments	Failure to win major contracts or delays in China’s awarding of new projects
Neptune Orient Lines	1.26	Proxy to global economic recovery, which should boost trans-Pacific trade	High gearing, oversupply in the market could weigh on freight rates
Sembcorp Ind	5.49	Offshore industry still booming, possible inflection year for utilities business	Stock rose a lot last year and contributions from SembMarine are lumpy
Swiber	0.68	Investment over the last year could allow it to capitalise on offshore boom	High level of debt and inherent risk in business model
TT J Holdings	0.28	Supports the local construction industry and could win several contracts this year	Small player with no analyst coverage

CSI is an index, and since index returns are not spectacular (I am looking at multi-baggers to accelerate my dreams of financial independence), I will give it a miss.  I already have Midas and NOL, so these are out. Sembcorp, as the authors have acknowledged themselves, is at a high, so this is out too.

This leaves me with Auric, CWT, Del Monte, Indofood, Swiber and TTJ. Auric, CWT, Del Monte and TTJ are already on firm uptrends, so the only way to buy is via a correction. This leaves me with Indofood and Swiber. Even then, I will want to wait for a softer market.