STI up 71 pts (2.16%) to close at 3392

STI quite powerful :P Divergence from Dow, when dow up, we go down; and when Dow goes down, we go up (a lot!), haha!STI increase 71 pts (2.16%) to close at 3392, with a volume of 1.93 billion (warning sign - too low volume). From what I can see, the rally is broadbased but the volume is entirely not convincing. A lot of bank and property stocks went up a lot and pushes STI up, but the volume cannot be manipulated. A lot of people are staying on the sidelines, perhaps Dow labour day holiday (i think on Monday) is getting people nervous enough not...

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Nikkei bear market from 1991 to 2003

Market crash series again. Nikkei in its heyday was at 40,000, my goodness! Now nikkei is only at 16,000, and they still haven't recovered from its heyday! Ouch ouch ouch....---------------------------------------Can a bear market last for 14 straight years? Well, this is exactly what occurred in Japan, starting in 1991.After World War II, Japan was devastated-several of its major cities were obliterated and its economy was virtually nonexistent. Due to much effort and hard work, the Japanese economy slowly began to stabilize and recover. Additionally,...

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STI from green to red; down 13 pts to 3321

Wah, leave home green green, come home red red. That pretty much describes STI today. STI closed down 13 pts (0.41%) to 3321 despite Dow marvellous performance last night when it closed up 247 pts. STI volume is 2.5 billion, much more than yesterday's 2.2 billion.Construction counters made a brief rally in the morning before losing some of it gains by market close. Lianbeng leads the pack and brought investors interest back into construction play. But overall market sentiment wasn't good, so in the end also lose steam. Tried to queue to sell lianbeng...

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STI reversed from 2.3% loss to 0.25% loss; LianBeng won Marina IR contract

Looks like this is going to be a rather long post :)Firstly, let me comment on STI today. STI did a very good job, reversing 2.3% drop in the morning to close at 0.25% at 3334, with volume transacted at 2.22 billion (similar to yesterday). Should have dropped 1 more pt to close at 3333, sheng sheng sheng! Marvelous support provided by buyers when STI nears 3250 intraday. Even on my watchlist, I can see that the selling is rather muted and confined...

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STI down 45.44 (1.34%), close at 3343

Hmm, today market did turn down. STI dropped 1.34% to close at 3343 with a volume of 2.28 billion (higher than yesterday's volume). Quite expected because STI opened up strongly yesterday but didn't move up, so it have to move now. Even for today, STI rallied quite strongly in the morning, but after lunch it went limp and never recovered back the losses.However, I must say the selling is quite muted now as it's rather restricted to STI component stocks, namely DBAss. Heard that SGX is going to do a 'routine' check on possible disclosure announcements....

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3388 - 4D number :)

Wasn't around the whole day, but I got a bad feeling about the market.In the morning, possibly based on Dow's Fri performance, STI was up by around 50 pts, but when I returned, it closed 19 pts up at 3388 (want to buy 4D? haha!) with a rather low volume of 2 billion shares transacted. Gainers to losers is 647 to 218.Nikkei opened 230 pts up in the morning but closed just 50 over pts. Signs of distribution? Possibly downside in the next few days?...

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Going to take charge of my health

Today heard a rather sad news about a person's passing; at a rather young age of 38 due to cancer.Reminds me of the vulnerability of one's body. Never take life for granted. I'm actually quite morbid because I think that the moment you are born, you are already dying. Dying takes place over a whole life time and the moment we actually 'die' just closes the deal. It is something like day and night. When day begins, night is beginning and when night starts, day is beginning. There is no boundary that separates day and night because it is a gradual...

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STI neutral today

The volume of STI today is so thin, almost nothing moved :P In the morning, there was a brief selldown, perhaps profit taking? Then it got fiercer and fierce, though on low volumes after news came out that DBS underdeclared its exposure to CDO by around 2 times. Around afternoon, buyers came back to push up STI to close at 3369 (down 0.04%) with a volume of 1.6 billion.DBS really something. No wonder some of my forum friends called it D-B-Ass. Nonsense... To think that I believe that Singapore banks would not do such thing as underdeclare their...

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STI up 49.4 pts to close at 3370

After dow closed up 145 pts up last night, STI responded by moving up 49.4 pts to close at 3370 with a volume of 2.8 billion (compared to 1.8 billion yesterday). From my watchlist, I can see a lot of counters moving up. The volume for the surge up is higher too compared to yesterday.Cosco announced a contract of 700 million...today it cheong up 0.160 to close at 4.940, real power house. Swiber went up 0.200 to close at 2.70 too. Lian beng announced a letter of intent to joint develop a private condominium off Upper bukit timah road with LaSalle...

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Lian beng trading halt; STI up 92 pts to close at 3321

Lian Beng trading halt today, but as of now, there's still no news as to what the halt is about. From what I see, it shouldn't be the BIG one. Must be some small news or worse - placement shares. But can't be lah, market so bad, who wants to do placement now? (haha, actually there is one company doing rights now - Genting)I see STI testing support at 3260 twice in the morning but didn't break it, so after lunch it shot up 92 pts (2.88%) to close at 3321 (near resistance), with a volume of 1.8 billion. Volume is getting thinner and thinner. Best...

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Hear only the good news

Pardon my post on the CPF rates much earlier. I've said too much too soon.Seems like the style that PM introduces new schemes or plan is like the TV advertisement on one of the radio stations, "Hear only the good news". In this case, say only the good news. Yes, the CPF rates for the first $60,000 combined will increase by 1%. But here's the catch, the rates will be now pegged to long term government bond (around 3-3.5% for 20 yrs). I'm supposed to get a smaller rates now, so I can get a higher rates in the future, so they say. No longer will...

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STI down 93.7 pts

STI lost some of its gain yesterday by closing down 93.7 pts to close at 3228, with a vol of 2.13 billion (even lower than yesterday). Gainer vs losers is 298/621.Not around to see what is happening. I just knew that STI after peaking around 10am, went down all the way, rising a little before closing for the day. HSI also lost most of its intraday gain. When it opened around 10am, it was around 900 plus? But it closed up 133 pts.It's okay to take profit after such a strong rally yesterday. I saw from newspaper that the gain is the 2nd highest...

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CPF rates increase; new rules for chinese to invest in HK

2 news to share over here.First is the proposed increase in CPF interest rate. Government is going to increase the interest rate earned for the first $60,000 in combined CPF accounts by 1%. That's a rather hefty sum if you put it in for 20-30 years because of the magic of compound interest. Haha, this might make me put more into it to take the news into account.This interest rate of 5% (for CPF-SA) plus inflation 3% - total of 8% will set the benchmark for my investments. I hope to earn more than 8% returns in my investments averaged over a long...

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STI up 6.12% (BIGGEST increase i've ever seen!)

STI clawed back up 191 pts (6.12%) with a volume of 2.5 billion (low vol), with a total of 883 gainers to 125 losers, closing at 3322. I've never seen STI rally up 6.12% ever! A real eye opener today :P A rather broadbased rally from what I can observe from my watchlist. Most of the banks and property stocks went up a lot. Low volume is what worries me.I wouldn't say we are out of the blues yet. Again, we have to check for higher lows and higher high before we can confirm that an uptrend is ongoing. At best, we have to wait for confirmation over...

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FED cut discount rates to 5.75

Today is another tua lao day for STI. Nearly got killed man...the selling was so intense and fierce that my counters got whacked from the start. I simply have no heart to look at it anymore. All my support levels I listed last night was breached. Swiber even went down to 1.99 (my god!) and cosco went from $6 pre-correction to the present $3.90. Nothing is left unturned by this bear raid.This is indeed an eye opener for a newbie like me. It makes all the correction I've been through downright childish and insignificant. I've been through '06 May,...

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Defence lines for my portfolio

STI dropped 121 pts down (-3.70%) to close at 3152 with 2.7 billion volume (higher than yesterday). Selling is severe and broadbased. This is after Dow dropped below 13,000 pts to close at 12,861. Worldwide market is a sea of blood. HSI - down 3.29% to close at 20,672; Nikkei - down 1.99% to close at 16,148, Shanghai dropped 2.14% to close at 4765. South korea KOSPI is the worst hit, 6.93% drop.Europe severe selling again (drop around 2-3%). Dow -75 now. If Dow drops below 12,700 plus (long term trendline), we're gone.This would be short and brief...

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Always look on the bright side of life

Haha, always look on the bright side of life ...

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What I felt about this whole thing

What an ugly day today.Dow broke 13,000 support and closed at 12,861 (-1.29%). A lot of people are thinking whether Dow will sink into recession as a result. I think not. The stock precedes the economy by half a year at least, so the seeds of recession must have already been grown. The stock market just reflects it. Did Bernanke screw up by refusing to cut rates and insisting that inflation is a more serious concern? He would have to answer to that himself.It's a vicious cycle actually. US had been too easy to lend out money to people. For those...

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STI drop 3.35% to 3,273

Market turned down globally after dow dropped more than 2% last night. STI dropped 3.51% in response, together with HSI (2.87%) and Nikkei (2.19%). But the volume is quite light when I see the watchlist. Yup, it dropped a lot but the volume that dropped is quite low. Total volume transacted for STI is 2.4 billion. Shanghai is the only only that stayed neutral (dropped 0.06%).Major selling in my counters :( Swiber and straits got hit especially hard. Swiber close down 0.130 while straits close -0.100 down. But bloody hell china transcom still holds...

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So many companies reporting

Oh my, sooo many companies issuing quarterly reports. Too tired to browse thru all, maybe next time. I'll just summarise the main points for those companies I'm holding.Pac andes- Revenue up 42.5%- Profit after tax 71.3%- increased earnings from china fishery which posted excellent results too- NAV $0.89 (way below market price)Yongnam- 1HFY07 net profit increase 7-fold (excludes exceptional gain of $12.7 million!)- operational profit increase 133.7%- gearing of 0.5 (so low for construction firm? that's good)- improved margins- order book as of...

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Europe cheong ah!

Quite a number of companies released results today. I'll just talk about china transcom because I had this. Reason to buy is based on technicals. But when the subprime issue came, all technicals are thrown aside. I kept it because the prices are rather stable (very low volume in the first place) and wanted to sell on rebound.Today it released quarterly results and not a surprise - just crap. Revenue dropped 22.9%, net profit dropped 55.6%. With no future prospects to jump start the price, I supposed the price will only drift downwards. When I...

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Swiber 2Q results

Again, the results release of Swiber this morning caught me off guard. I wasn't even aware that they are releasing results today :P Good thing I bought in last week, haha!Swiber released an excellent set of 2Q results this morning. The net profit yoy increased 678% and profit after tax increased 486.4%. Revenue increased 232% from last year. I'm not so happy to see that the gross profit margin increased from 19% last year to 29.4% this year. If other income (gain of USD $2.5 million from disposal of vessels) is taken out of the gross profit, gross...

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CHoffshore - great results with 4 SGD cts per share dividend

Don't know what tmr might bring. Dow didn't close too bad last Fri (-30 plus) because FED injected a fresh round of funds into the market to raise liquidity to prevent the collapse of the financial system. Hard to say how others might interpret this. It can either be viewed that the system is serious enough to warrant enough central banks globally to 'rescue' the system and thus it's bearish; or it's a temporary measure to halt panic investors from selling cheaply, thus it's bearish (at least for short term).Not point theorizing, haha :P Tomorrow...

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Market crash market crash! haha :P

Some big trouble is plaguing global markets. It's the spread of subprime problem from US to other parts of the world in the form of CDO. It's now spread over to Europe when BNP, France's biggest bank, stopped the withdrawal of funds linked to the subprime loans. Europe central bank had to pump in money to raise liquidity so that the banking system would not collapse. Europe is suffering from major crash now, FTSE (UK's stock market) totally wiped...

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O-oh....Dow's in trouble?

Tmr STI is going to fly singapore flag...red red red :)News from BNP Paribas SA, France's biggest bank, had halted withdrawals from funds citing and the surging demand for cash drove overnight lending rates higher. This news sent Europe stocks falling sharply down (most are down 1 to 3%) as of now. Dow's future shows tonight Dow is going to have a rough rough night and probably will spill over some of its blood over to STI tmr when we open for trading.Okay lah, used to it already. Always closed for trading at the wrong time. Tonight Dow should...

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National day rally did happen! STI +111

What a wonderful STI national day rally!I thought in the morning that it's all a fake rally, because it seems that the only stock rising are all those banking stocks that got whacked really hard during the market correction these weeks due to subprime exposure. But after they came clean with the exact amount of exposure (plus the fact that the risks are borne by global investors and not soley them), analyst came in force to recommend strong buys. So today, most of the property and banking stocks, in fact most of the other pennies as well, joined...

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Black Monday on 1987

"Technically, the crash of 1987 bears an uncanny resemblance to the crash of 1929. The shape and extent of the decline and even the day-to-day movements of stock prices track very closely."George Soros in The Alchemy of FinanceThis crash is the one which is closer to me as I'm in primary school. Of course I knew nothing about the stock market then and was more concerned with alphabets and numbers :P This crash occured on Monday, hence the name black...

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STI fizzles off...

Wow...market damn bad today huh, despite Dow's rebound of 286 pts last night. Opened up 54 points but closed down 6 pts down, with volume of 2.5 billion.Most of my counters went down again, esp the much battered construction counters. Simply no catalyst to push the price up, given the bad sentiment. But straits asia went up 0.050 after yesterday's announcement of fidelity funds increasing their stake. Swiber went down again...Hmm, when will value investors come to rescue us? haha :) Only heaven knows...as the song goes...I'll be extremely busy...

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STI dropped 127 pts (3.70%) drop, volume 2.6 billion

After a big drop by Dow last fri (-286), STI followed, together with the rest of the bourses around our region. STI droppped 127 pt (3.70%) with volume of 2.6 billion shares transacted. The selling is a little beyond my expectation. I expected 70 pts drop, but it dropped much more than that. Resting on another support, so a rebound could be next to expect. Is it too much to ask for a national day rally? haha :)Most of my counters dropped, as for all the rest of sgx stocks. It's 112 gainers vs 916 losers, so count yourself lucky if your stocks...

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Market thoughts for the weekend

Dow dropped 281 points last Fri as some major market player commented that the credit problem is the worst he had ever seen in 22 years. Market plunged so much that trading curb was imposed. Sounds like Feb, when Thailand imposed some new rules and trading had to be halted in india's stock exchange or something.Tomorrow going to see some major major selling, I believe, unless investors here and savvy enough to appreciate just how much a problem...

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STI up 0.6, volume 2.8 billion

Just got back...woah..what a day :)Had a pleasant surprise. Almost all my portfolio is up, and more importantly, seems like construction stocks are revived :) Could it be the big one this weekend? Hmm...wishful thinking ;)STI had a funny candlestick. I believe it's a tweezer formation. Always close at a level for the 3rd consecutive day already. Could be in for a short rebound? We're still in downtrend and buyers had been rather hesitant to buy up the cheap shares, despite Dow closing rather well the last few days. I'll blog more this Sunday....

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The Great depression in 1929

Market crash series...The Great depression of United states in 29th Oct, Tues, 1929. Otherwise known as 'Black Tuesday'. The ultimate bubble that ever burst, so severe is the depression that it spreaded over most of Europe. Did the stock market crash cause the great depression, or does it merely herald the coming of the depression? Knowing that the stock market precedes the real situation by 6 months in advance, I think it's a warning sign that something is not right in the economy and not the other way round. Haha, my own thoughts only :)To borrow...

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Not out of the woods yet

Wasn't around the good part of the day, so wasn't aware of how well the market performs. I can see the STI close but it's never as close as feeling how well the market do by watching the movement of the counters. After watching the market daily for almost a year plus plus, I've acquired a certain sense of the market. By looking at how fast the price move or how 'fake' the buy/sell queue are, I can roughly predict how strong the selling/buying is. I guess that's called experience.STI close up 3.8, on low volume of 3 billion. 343 gainers vs 524...

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STI dropped 140 points!! (3.27%)

STI had a wonderful diarrhoea today, lao non stop till the intestines, stomach, liver and pancreas all lao out...gross right? At its height, STI dropped 140 over points, but a slight recovery towards market close causes STI to close down 115 (down 3.27%). This must be one of the most severe single day drop I've ever seen.*bookmark this day - STI drops 115 (down 3.27%) on volume of 4.9 billion, with 101 gainers vs 1014 losers*HSI also food poisoning,...

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