It's been a great honour and privilege to conduct a 5-Day Early Retirement Workshop for you. Batch 42 graduates into a market environment that is, in many ways, the most interesting we have seen in years. Two events in particular deserve your attention as you set out to build and maintain your dividend portfolios: the Straits Times Index crossing the 5,200 mark, and the arrival of a new Federal Reserve Chairman in the United States. Both have direct consequences for the kind of investing you have just learned. The STI at 5,200 — A Milestone That Cuts Both Ways As of this week, the Straits Times Index is trading at approximately 5,212 points, having reached a fresh record high of 5,169 on 17 June 2026. For those of you who have followed Singapore equities for any length of time, you will know that this is extraordinary. For most of the past decade, the STI languished between 2,800 and 3,500. Breaking convincingly above 4,000 was already newsworthy. Crossing 5,000, let alone 5,200, is a generational milestone....