There are many ways to find investment ideas. Some useful methods are to screen for stocks or to look at a list of stocks near their 52-week lows to sieve out potential bargains. Studying what institutional investors have been buying or selling is another avenue. Institutional investors are typically large investment organisations, such as hedge funds, mutual funds, unit trust companies, sovereign wealth funds, insurance companies and so on. These investors tend to possess vastly greater resources than individual investors like you and me when researching stocks. Hence, it may be useful to keep a close eye on what they are doing, as a way to generate ideas. IIn this article, I will look at three Singapore stocks that were in the list of the top 10 stocks that saw the highest net sales in d

Investors are getting nervous. After a long period of calm, the US stock market started falling last week. Right now, the S&P 500 – a leading US stock market benchmark – is down by 5.5% from its record-high close on 20 September. At home in Singapore, the Straits Times Index (SGX: ^STI) is down by 11% year-to-date. Though a market pullback worries most investors, the truth is that market sell-offs are great times to buy shares of companies at bargain prices. With this in mind, let’s look at two blue chips that I think are good buys if the market crashes. The duo are known as blue chips because of their status as one of the 30 constituents of the Straits Times Index. Blue Chip No.1  My first company is one that needs no introduction as it is Singapore’s largest o

Back when Temasek’s subsidiary Azalea Group issued the Astrea IV Bonds, I made the guess that the direction the government wants is for wealth building to be more broad based instead of being very concentrated in property and very safe instruments. To do that, the public requires more options. So when the Astrea IV came out, I think it let’s us know perhaps what is ahead. Yesterday, it was announced that Temasek will issue a 5 year bond yielding 2.70%. This Temasek 5 year bond gave us that indication that maybe there are more issues to come. One of the gripes people have about the Astrea IV was that that the Astrea IV was not issued directly by Temasek but is a structured product by the private equity subsidiary. So this time round, Temasek decide to provide a retail tranche wi

Right now, Singapore’s three major bank shares – DBS Group Holdings Ltd (SGX: D05), Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation Limited (SGX: O39), and United Overseas Bank Ltd (SGX: U11) – have pretty attractive dividend yields. According to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence, DBS, OCBC, and UOB currently have dividend yields of 4.9%, 3.8%, and 4.0%, respectively. I thought it’ll be interesting to find out which of the three banks is the better dividend investment. There is no easy answer, since we can’t be certain about the future. But, we can still get some useful insights by studying the dividend track record of the banks, since their past actions can help us form some expectations for what lies ahead. The showdown In the last five years from 2013 to

Last week was tough for stock markets around the world. In just two trading sessions on Wednesday and Thursday, the S&P 500 – a major market index in the US – fell by more than 5%. Closer to home, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell by 3.5% in Thursday alone, while our local market barometer, the Straits Times Index  (SGX: ^STI), fell by 2.7% on the same day. There was a rebound last Friday, but to help you keep up with the latest developments, here’s a quick summary of what might have caused the sell-off, and what you, as an investor, should do now and in the future. What may be causing the stock market sell-off There are a number of reasons that may have contributed towards the recent decline in stock prices. Four of those reasons were shared by my colleague

In Singapore’s stock market, the three major bank shares are DBS Group Holdings Ltd (SGX: D05), Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation Limited (SGX: O39), and United Overseas Bank Ltd (SGX: U11). After peaking in April this year, the three banks have seen their share prices decline by around 20% each from their respective highs. The recent fall in DBS Group, OCBC, and UOB’s share prices may have led to some investors wondering which bank they should consider investing in now. There’s no easy answer, but I want to directly compare the important business and valuation aspects of the three banks in a mini article-series. This article is the second in the series and it compares the long-term track record of growth of the banking trio; the objective is to find out which bank did

In Singapore’s stock market, the three major bank shares are DBS Group Holdings Ltd (SGX: D05), Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation Limited (SGX: O39), and United Overseas Bank Ltd (SGX: U11). After peaking in April this year, the three banks have seen their share prices decline by around 20% each from their respective highs. The recent fall in DBS Group, OCBC, and UOB’s share prices may have led to some investors wondering which bank they should consider investing in now. There’s no easy answer, but I want to directly compare the important business and valuation aspects of the three banks in a mini article-series. This article is the third in the series and it compares the valuation metrics for the three banks. In particular, the valuation metrics I will focus on are the price-t

In Singapore’s stock market, the three major bank shares are DBS Group Holdings Ltd (SGX: D05), Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation Limited (SGX: O39), and United Overseas Bank Ltd (SGX: U11). After peaking in April this year, the three banks have seen their share prices decline by around 20% each from their respective highs. The recent fall in DBS Group, OCBC, and UOB’s share prices may have led to some investors wondering which bank they should consider investing in now. There’s no easy answer, but I want to directly compare the important business and valuation aspects of the three banks in a mini article-series. This article is the first in the series and it compares the most recent quarterly earnings updates of the banking trio. The objective is to find out which ban

In a wide-ranging discussion, David Kuo chats with Hou Wey Fook the CIO of DBS Bank about his strategy for investors in the aftermath of the market sell-off. The market sell-off has been both brutal and indiscriminate. It started in the US on Wednesday night and it has spread to the rest of the world like wild fire. What has caused the share market to slump? How much of it is due to changes to the fundamentals of the market? How high can interest rates go and could inflation be as big a problem as some have suggested? What about the Sino-US trade dispute – how inflationary could this turn out to be? There have been numerous suggestions that the US bull market is growing long in the tooth. Could the sell-off in shares be a sign that the US market has finally reached a top? Banks shoul

Over night, the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average – major market indices for the US – fell by 3.3%, and 3.2%, respectively. There is widespread contagion across Asian stock markets today. In Singapore, our Straits Times Index (SGX: ^STI) is currently down by 3.0% at the time of writing. Hong Kong stocks, as measured by the Hang Seng Index, has fallen by nearly 4%, while the Nikkei 225 in Japan has declined by over 4%. Some investors are worried that more declines are on the way, and that a bear market has started. I have no clue as to whether stocks will continue falling, or will start bouncing up tomorrow. What I do know is that investors need to remain rational during the current sell-off – this is important if we want to avoid making silly mistakes, or

Banks in Singapore have a marvellous track record of paying out dividends each year. Even during the Great Financial Crisis in 2008/2009, when many financial institutions had to be bailed out, the three major banks in Singapore still managed to pay out dividends to shareholders. Their consistency and reliability make them great dividend stocks to own. With that, here’s a quick comparison on which bank could make the best income investment. Dividend yield The dividend yield is a function of the amount of dividends a shareholder can collect against the price of the stock. The table below outlines the current dividend yield of DBS Group Holdings Ltd (SGX: D05), Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp Limited (SGX: O39) and United Overseas Bank Ltd (SGX: U11), as of 8 October 2018. Source: Author

Today, we are going to share with you how to grow your CPF investment money in a no-brainer way. The best part? You need not be financial savvy to do this. A beginner can do it! And I’ll reveal the exact step-by-step process, which you can follow easily. What is CPF Investment Scheme (CPFIS)? It is to provide option to CPF members to invest their CPF savings in various instruments such as insurance products, unit trusts, fixed deposits, bonds and shares. The Average CPF Interest Rate is 2.5% to 4% for Ordinary Account. Check their latest interest rate here. Below is the latest CPF rate.   Share this Infographic On Your Site </p><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />&l

Legendary investor Warren Buffett is a huge advocate of companies buying back shares – if done for the right reasons. And that is, if the company’s shares are undervalued, and the reinvestment opportunities for the business are not as appealing. On that note, last month, 35 companies in Singapore’s stock market repurchased 32.4 million shares for a total amount of S$93.6 million, according to a report released by Singapore Exchange Limited (SGX: S68) recently. The September buyback level was 62% lower from August’s buyback amount of S$245 million, which was a 35-month record. In August, the Straits Times Index (SGX: ^STI) fell by 3.2% while in September, the index rose 1.4%. Share buybacks tend to increase when the stock market falls, and vice versa. The top four companies wit

Warren Buffett once said that as an investor, it is important to be “fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful.” The idea is simple. When everyone is buying shares in a company, it’s unlikely that the company’s shares will be a good bargain. On the other hand, when others are shying away from the shares of a company, we might be able to pick some up at a good price. How can we tell if investors are staying away from a company’s shares? By seeing if it has fallen hard in recent times. In this spirit, here are three blue-chip shares with prices that have declined significantly from their respective highs over the past year: Singapore Telecommunications Limited  (SGX: Z74), DBS Group Holdings Ltd  (SGX: D05), and Thai Beverage Company Limited  (

With an aim to address the common-man-investor’s problem of being sucked into dividend traps, Phillip Capital Management is offering a new exchange-traded fund (ETF) to provide income-hungry investors with an ability to invest in a diversified group of quality dividend companies in one fell swoop. The Phillip SING Income ETF (SGX: OVQ), as it is called, is Phillip Capital’s third ETF in Singapore’s stock market. The new ETF was launched yesterday, and The Motley Fool Singapore was invited to an exclusive media briefing for the launch-event. The Phillip SING Income ETF aims to fully replicate the Morningstar Singapore Yield Focus Index. The 30-stock index selects Singapore-listed companies based on three main factors: business quality; financial health; and dividend yield. In

The Straits Times Index (SGX: ^STI) has dipped by about 7% since the start of the year. Much of that decline was caused by the underperformance of the three bank stocks that make up a large percentage of the index. At the moment, DBS Group Holdings Ltd (SGX: D05) and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. Limited (SGX: O39) are down 16.9% and 12.1% since the start of the year. Meanwhile, United Overseas Bank Ltd (SGX: U11) is down 9.7% from its peak for the year. With the steep declines in stock prices, could now be a good entry point for long-term shareholders? A Closer Look At DBS Group Holdings  DBS Group, the largest bank in Singapore by market capitalisation, had a good start to the year. The bank’s first half net profit rose 23% to a record high, while return on equity was 12.5%, fa

There are many ways to find investment ideas. Some useful ways are to screen for stocks or to look at a list of stocks near their 52-week lows to sieve out potential bargains. Studying what institutional investors have been buying or selling is another avenue. Institutional investors are typically large investment organisations, such as hedge funds, mutual funds, unit trust companies, sovereign wealth funds, insurance companies and so on. These investors tend to possess vastly greater resources than individual investors like you and me when researching stocks. Hence, it may be useful to keep a close eye on what they are doing, as a way to generate ideas. In this article, I will look at three Singapore stocks (among the top ten stocks) that have seen the highest net purchases in dollar valu

Despite Singapore’s healthy economic fundamentals and strong corporate earnings performance in 2Q18, analysts are striking a more cautious tone. Analysts are touting that earnings momentum is expected to decelerate, bringing an end to 18 months of earnings upgrades. For 2018, consensus has slashed earnings per share (EPS) forecasts for the MSCI Singapore by 0.7 percentage point during August. The telecommunication sector, in particular, saw the greatest earnings downgrade. Management commentary during the 2Q18 earnings season also turned less positive as compared to three months ago. Corporations cited the growing trade tensions and recent property cooling measures as the reasons behind their gloomy outlook. Only a few companies experienced a material impact from trade war but the situat

Giants such as Apple Inc and Amazon.com call the United States their home. In Singapore’s stock market, there are also giants. Let’s check out three of the largest shares listed in Singapore (data as of 26 September 2018). Giant #1 Not many know this, but with a market capitalisation of S$83.6 billion, Prudential Plc (SGX: K6S) is the largest listed company in Singapore. The company, which has a secondary listing here, is a British life insurance and financial services provider that is headquartered in the United Kingdom. It was founded in May 1848. Prudential was listed on the Singapore stock market by way of introduction on 25 May 2010. It has a premium listing in London and a primary listing in Hong Kong. The insurance company has a price-to-book (PB) ratio of 2.8 and a dividend yie

Singapore’s stock market represents less than 1% of the global stock market. This percentage is even smaller if the three major banks are excluded. So, why limit ourselves just to Singapore stocks? We are blessed to be living in the era of the Internet. With a click of a button, we can invest in companies in Australia, America, Europe or other parts of Asia, giving us the opportunity to diversify our portfolio overseas and invest in many of the great companies outside of Singapore. In this article, I will give a step-by-step guide on how investors in Singapore can begin investing in stocks outside of our country, and what are some of the major considerations when investing internationally. Step 1: Find a broker Numerous brokers facilitate the trading of international stocks. You can choo