Raffles Medical is one of the stocks that has baffled me for quite some time. ... Read more >>

Taxi drivers are complaining about low pick up rate and are suffering from massive income cut. SMRT and Comfort Delgro will suffer.Tourists are not coming to Singapore. So the likes of Gentings and Straco are suffering from zilch revenue.Tourists are staying away from flying into Singapore given the number of cases. Singaporeans are also worried about flying out. So SIA will suffer, and the effect will cascade to SATS.  SIA has already cut large number of flights in the months ahead and staff are surplus a plenty.No tourists, no major events, the MICE sector also suffers. So Kingsmen will suffer.Trade grinding to a halt because China factories are only slowly trying to resume amidst their lockdowns and containment. So all the industrial and shipping side are facing slow

The coronavirus from Wuhan has the world on its feet. We now have close to 35,000 infections and over 700 deaths and the numbers are rising. This is the worst pandemic since SARS 17 years ago and looks like it will get worse. In Singapore, panic ensued. For reasons unclear, we believe our city state will fall under siege. Not from any military invasion nor terrorist attacks but from our own fears. Singaporeans last night raided supermarkets for essential supplies. Shelves at NTUC, Sheng Siong and other large retail outlets supplying instant noodles, rice, biscuits, masks and toilet paper went empty. Of all the essential supplies, why toilet paper? NTUC raidedThis is human psychology. We are programmed with this herd mentality. We don't want to lose out and we shun things when we see o

While Temasek-linked REITs had been hogging the limelight amid the current bull run in the sector, Parkway Life REIT had been under the radar of many investors. The 3-month average trading volume amounted to a mere 8.29mm! Despite the extremely poor liquidity, the unit price of Parkway Life REIT had been on a roll and even stormed to a record high of $3.36 recently. The stunning form of Parkway Life REIT unit price completely knocked the wind out of Raffles Medical share price, which had been in goofy form in recent years. I know, I know. It is not fair to compare price performance of a REIT to a share. But let’s face it. Both Raffles Medical and Parkway Life REIT operate in the same sector (private hospital) and both entities share basically the same challenges. But their destinies are

5 years onJCNCST EngSIA EngRFMDGentingSembcorp and KeppelThai BevF&N"The best investment you can make is an investment in yourself. The more you learn, the more you earn." - Warren Buffett

The weekly 4 Stocks This Week column on DollarsAndSense was started in 2017 with a simple objective was simple: to provide a convenient read each week for busy investors to stay updated with what is happening on the Singapore Exchange. 4 Stock This Week is not a recommendation from us to buy or sell any of the stocks that wke feature. Its purpose is to highlight interesting stocks that investors should be aware of, rather than to analyse these stocks. For this week’s edition, instead of the usual coverage of four stocks, we’ll do a year in review of the other 51 instalments of 4 Stocks This Week that our team has written in 2019. Over the past year (51 weeks), we’ve covered 123 SGX-listed stocks, 4 ETFs and 8 Daily Leverage Certificates. The most covered stock was Sas

Though there are many different kinds of businesses out there, only a few of them are able to pay out a consistent and predictable dividend. These types of businesses have stable operating characteristics and/or consistent demand for their products and services, which allows them to generate large amounts of free cash flow that can be used to pay out steady dividends. Income investors generally embrace such companies as their predictability and stability offer both peace of mind and a steady stream of dividends. However, investors should also note that such businesses could occasionally be subject to disruption from technology or new competitors, and there is still a constant need to keep an eye on the business to ensure it still enjoys great economic characteristics. Here are four types

Investors always want more dividends. This is why dividend-paying companies are so popular — they represent a cash return on our investment from profits generated by the business. The hunt is always on for companies that not only pay regular and consistent dividends, but also companies that raise them over the years. There are many reasons companies raise their dividends, but the most important one, in my view, is that the business is improving and generating more profit and free cash flow. This is the main reason great companies pay increasing dividends over time and can act as superb compounders of investors’ wealth. Another reason could be because the business generates excess cash flow that it does not require to maintain its business, and can thus pay out the rest as divi

Hospitals are can be a bit like hotels except they don’t leave a piece of chocolate on your pillow at night. That might seem a little facetious. But essentially, hospitals are places where people rent a room or a bed space when they are unwell and check out when they feel better…. …. during their stay, they are cared for by nurses and doctors in exchange for a consideration. According to Deloitte, global healthcare spending could rise around 5% annually to exceed $10 trillion by 2022. Of course, not every dollar will be spent in hospitals. Other healthcare companies have a vital role to play too. These include pharmaceutical companies such as GlaxoSmithKline (LSE: GSK) in vaccines and Abbott (NYSE: ABT) in diagnostics. GlaxoSmithKline’s vaccine business generated

Picture the scene…. …. let’s say I own a couple or three apartments (which I don’t) within a condominium in Singapore. There’s nothing wrong with that. There are many wealthy individuals in Singapore who are lucky enough to be able to do that. Then one day I decide to sell one of my units. But instead of selling it on the open market, I sell it to myself. Yup, I write out a big fat cheque to myself…. …. What’s more, I sell it for a lot more than the average asking price on the market. Who is going to object to that? After all, I am both the buyer and the seller in the transaction. But what kind of effect might that have on my other properties, and also on properties in the vicinity that I don’t own. Chances are their prices could g

With medical advancements and improved standard of living, life expectancy is only set to increase. In Singapore, people live an average of 84.8 years, beating even countries known for their long life expectancy such as Japan (84.1 years). Read Also: Why You Need To Plan For Your Retirement Beyond Your Life Expectancy While our life expectancy increases, this does not mean that we are always in good health. Health problems are common, and in some cases, more apparent than in previous decades. For example, more elderly in Singapore are suffering from chronic diseases today compared to a decade ago. Chronic diseases include high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, arthritis, diabetes and more. As the need for advanced, quality healthcare services increases, it’s also important to note