Reducing payouts. The recent 4Q08 results season has thrown up some surprises on the dividends front, as a number of high yielding stocks have slashed their payouts. ComfortDelgro, for exa …

My friend went to redempt his policy...Queue Number "2000++"...Below is a news from some newspaper:Singapore's central bank said AIA Singapore, a unit of troubled U.S. insurer AIG, is required under the law to maintain sufficient financial resources to meet all its liabilities to policyholders.'AIA currently meets these regulatory requirements. MAS will continue to monitor …

DBS has announced a 1-for-2 rights issue at S$5.42 (45% discount to lastclosing, 35% discount to theoretical ex-rights price) to raise S$4b.Largest shareholder, Temasek Holdings, will sub-underwrite 33.3% of rightsissue and has undertaken to fully subscribe for its entitlement of 27.6%.The rights issue is underwritten by Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan,Morgan Stanley and …

DS has successfully transformed itself from a local furniture manufacturer to a global product specialist with in-house brands. It is poised for a quantum leap given the strong demand for hotel fit-outs, growing overseas traction and potential mega contract wins. Despite its robust growth momentum, valuation is a steal, at just 3.9x (ex-cash) FY10 PER, a sharp discount to its …

Leading economic indicators. Global economic data have been pointing to concrete evidence of an economic recovery with PMIs rebounding, unemployment generally easing and consumer confidence recovering from their lows. Increased confidence of an economic recovery has enhanced investors' preference for cyclical stocks such as commodities. Indeed, increased economic activity and …

We still like the sector because of its resilient earnings ? we see the potential of earnings disappointment for the market as a whole if the expected V-shaped recovery does not materialize. With the market looking slightly toppish around 2600-2700, the risk of suffering a sharp pullback is less for the telcos given that they have generally lagged the market in terms of YTD …