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 weakness and that the bull market is not over yet.

My personal view is that this is unlikely to be the start of the bear market. Since last month, I have already informed clients to trim their portfolios. In fact, on 26 Sep, I have sent out another …