10 things you must know when upgrading from HDB to private (1st October 2019)

This write-up was reproduced with permission from Ray’s Estate Clinic, written by Founder, Raymond Chng. Please refer to the end of the article for more information on Raymond. The decision to upgrade from a HDB to a private property whether a condominium or landed property is a big decision to many, over the past few years, I have had many clients ask me for my opinions and particularly if they should upgrade. Many HDB owners upgrade because they are fearful of their HDB price being stagnant. The worst thing that can happen is a HDB owner to upgrade into a […]

S&P500 at 2,979 – limited potential upside (8 Sep 19)

With reference to my earlier write-up (click HERE) titled “Why am I cautious going into July…”, July was coincidentally the peak for S&P500. Hang Seng touched an intraday high of 29,008 on 4 Jul 2019 before slumping 4,108 points to an intraday low of 24,900 on 15 Aug 2019 (Hang Seng closed at 26,691 on 6 Sep 2019.) Personally, given the current market levels and information, I am not comfortable to raise my current percentage invested from 53% to significant levels (say >80%). Why am I cautious in the market? Do read on…   Factors supporting my cautious basis Above […]

Why am i cautious going into July… (2 Jul 19)

Dear all, With reference to my market write-up published on 29 May 2019 (click HERE), where I mentioned that the sell-off in the markets revealed interesting trading opportunities, markets coincidentally bottomed on 3 Jun 2019 and staged a strong recovery. I have already sold into strength and reduced my percentage invested in stocks from 150% in early June to 12% now. Personally, I am cautious in the market going into July. Why is this so?   Basis below 1) Markets jumped yesterday following the U.S. / China trade truce announced over the weekend, despite the lack of details on what […]

STI has dropped almost 17% since 2 May! Is a bear market coming? (14 Oct 18)

Dear all, U.S. equity markets have logged their worst weekly performance in the past six months. For our local market, STI has dropped 16.7% from an intra-day high of 3,642 on 2 May 2018 to an intra-day low of 3,035 on 11 Oct 2018. It closed at 3,069 on 12 Oct 2018. Is a bear market coming? There are mixed views. Bears are saying that we have not reached the bottom yet. Some perma-bears are even saying this may be the start of the bear market. Bulls are saying that this represents a window of opportunity to accumulate stocks on […]

STI notched a ten year high on 2 May – is it a screaming buy for all SG stocks (11 May 18)

Dear all, Dow has logged a seventh consecutive rise and small caps as measured by S&P600 index have just closed at a record high as of 11 May 2018. Our Singapore market has also done us proud too by becoming Asia’s best performing equity market on 2 May 2018. In view of the above, is it a screaming buy for our Singapore market, especially our small caps which have under-performed? Let’s take a closer look at the charts and my personal action plan.   S&P500 closed 2,728. Day range 2,717 – 2,733 Based on Chart 1 below, S&P500 seems to […]

5 facts you must know before your next property investment (Feb 2018)

5 facts you must know before your next property investment (Guest post) Over the past 3 months, the media has been reporting mostly good news about the Singapore Property Market and Local Property Brokers have been upbeat about the property market. Against a backdrop of what looks like a very promising – The Great Singapore Upgrade for the Property Market, this article attempts to provide deep insights that investors should consider as well as questions investors should be asking. Below are three facts which most investors already know in the Singapore Residential Property Market : 1. Transaction volumes are increasing […]