I share two stories about investing for the long term. The following two shares represent fairly large investments for me.

APPLE SHARES
I had Apples shares for several years. It went to as low at US$70 in mid 2013. I incurred a loss of about 30%. I decided to keep it for the long term. It recovered to US$130 in mid 2015. I wanted to take a profit as I felt the price to be too high. I gave an order to sell at a target price, but it never reached it. The price later dropped to US$100. So, I decided to hold it "for the long term".

It is now at US$156. I did not expect such a big recovery of more than 50% from its recent low of $100. There was no big boost from new products or sales.

I will probably sell it now, as I do want to see a market crash towards the end of 2017 (like the repeat of 1987, 1997 and 2007).

GENTING SINGAPORE
In mid 2015, my stockbroker recommended a trade in Genting Singapore shares. The price was at $1.08 which represent a 30% drop from the peak of $1.40. The company would be making an announcement soon. He expected the price to recover.

The results were much worse than anticipated. The company suffered the impact of a drop in business due to a clampdown on China gamblers and other reasons. The share price dropped sharply. Within a few months, I had lost 30%. Again, I decided to hold the shares as a long term investment. I did not monitor it.

The price has now recovered to $1.08. The company has announced a big increase in profits over the weekend. The price may shoot up to a higher level. It will be time for me to sell the shares.

LESSON
If you invest in blue chip shares, you can afford to hold it for the long term and sell them when the price reaches a high point.

Tan Kin Lian