By: musicwhiz The first half of August 2008 was quiet, unless you take into account the rumblings of the general public who literally saw the value of shares on the bourse fall to new 52-week lows. In terms of corporate actions and announcements, there was little activity. While I do maintain that “no news is good news”, sometimes having some updates on matters pending is useful for listed companies as a means of communicating with shareholders. Much of what is happening to the USA now is fairly well-known and widely reported in the news, so I shall not elaborate on the details. Suffice to say that economic activity is slowing and countries such as Australia and United Kingdom may be looking at a possible recession. Singapore itself has revised FY 2008 growth figures to 4-5% instead of the previous 4-6%, as there was a contraction in 2Q 2008 as compared to 1Q 2008. If 3Q 2008 reports a contraction, then Singapore will be in a “technical recession” (don’t ask me about this term, it was coined by economists) ! Meanwhile, the Olympic Games are on in Beijing now and the China stock market has reacted by crashing even further as people are now worried about a post-Olympic slump. Interestingly, S-Shares listed on SGX have seen valuations getting more and more attractive as investors become overly pessimistic, contributing to the irrational panic and selldown. There are now many bargains in the local bourse but of course one needs to assess the impact of rising inflation on a company before one decides to purchase. Read more...