Mapletree Commercial Trust: as long as 1.13 is support look for 1.21

Our pivot point stands at 1.13.

Our preference: as long as 1.13 is support look for 1.21.

Alternative scenario: the downside breakout of 1.13 would call for 1.1 and 1.09.

Comment: the RSI is above its neutrality area at 50. The MACD is below its signal line and positive. The stock could retrace in the short term. Moreover, the stock is trading above both its 20 and 50 day MA (respectively at 1.14 and 1.1). Mapletree Commercial Trust is currently trading near its 52 week high reached at 1.18 on 21/09/12.

Supports and resistances: 
1.22 *
1.21 **
1.19
1.155 last
1.13
1.13 **
1.1 *

Far East Hospitality Trust: Largest pure Singapore hospitality REIT (initiate with BUY and a RNAV-based fair value of S$1.08)

Far East Hospitality Trust: Largest pure Singapore hospitality REIT 
● Pure Singapore hospitality play 
● Strong sponsor 
● Clear and sizeable pipeline 

Largest diversified hospitality portfolio 
by asset value 
Far East H-Trust's portfolio consists of 11 
properties in Singapore, including seven 
hotels and four serviced residences, with 
2,531 rooms/units in total. The trust has the 
largest diversified hospitality portfolio in 
Singapore by asset value, equaling S$2.14b. 
With a mix of hotels and serviced residences, 
the portfolio is able to ride on the up-cycle in 
the hotel industry, while the serviced 
residences would provide downside 
protection during economic slowdowns due to 
the longer average stay. We note that the 
hotels have good locations, with the majority 
located in the Core Central Region. Five of 
the hotels are close to private hospitals, 
enabling them to benefit from anticipated 
growth in Singapore's healthcare tourism. 

Positive outlook for the Singapore 
hospitality sector 
For 2012-2014, we estimate that the overall 
hotel room demand in Singapore will grow at 
6.4% p.a., outstripping expected hotel 
supply growth of 4.8% p.a. On a combined 
basis, we see Mid-tier and Upscale hotel 
room supply growing at 4.8% p.a. 

Credible and experienced sponsor 
The Sponsor is part of Far East Organization, 
which is the largest private property 
developer in Singapore. Far East 
Organization has developed real estate in the 
residential, hospitality, commercial, medical 
and industrial sectors. It has substantial 
experience managing hospitality assets and 
its total hospitality portfolio (including the 
initial portfolio of the Far East H-Trust) 
comprises 18 properties valued at more than 
S$3.0b as at 31 Dec 2011. The hospitality 
operations have also established three inhouse 
brands - Village, Oasia and Quincy. 

Visible and substantial pipeline 
Three hotels and four serviced residences 
have been identified by the Sponsor as 
Sponsor Right of First Refusal (ROFR) 
properties which could be offered to Far East 
H-Trust. These properties, if acquired could 
increase the number of hotel rooms/serviced 
residence units in the trust by 1,242 
rooms/units, or 49.1%, to 3,773. 

KPOPGAGA Presents PREVIEW ft. Superstar K2 Finalist, KIM SO JUNG

Event Details 

Date: 22nd September

Time: 4-6pm 

Venue: Cathay Cineleisure, Orchard

Did you know that Kim So Jung was one of the TOP 11 Finalists of M.net Superstar K2? She made her first debut in May this year which saw her release of the 1st album, "HEERAH'S". She is well known for her strong vocals and have sung for several Korean dramas musical/OST such as "Love is"[Caffeine] (collaboration with Kim Hyun Jun), "Pit a Pat" [Playful Kiss] (collaboration with Lee Boram & Park Boram) and "You have come" [Queen Inhyun's man]. She has also participated in several activities such as being the honorary ambassador for the eradication of school violence and being Songpa Police Station's honorary ambassador. 

GLP - jumps 8.8% in past week

Global Logistics Properties (GLP) first listed on the SGX mainboard in Oct 2010, with an initial public offering price of $1.96. Being a government-linked company as well as the second largest IPO in Singapore, the company garnered a lot of interest from institutions and retailers.

Initial performance did not last
GLP had a stellar start, surging 18.4% to close at $2.32 on 29 Oct 2010, two weeks after its debut. However, interest in the counter quickly dwindled and it trended lower, falling to its lowest levels, a year after its IPO. On 4 Oct 2011, GLP traded at $1.50, down 35.3% from its previous high of $2.32, lagging behind the STI which declined 19.4% for the same period.

+73.3% in less than a year
However, a month after GLP made its low of $1.50, the company announced their 2Q FY2012 results which surprised investors when their financial results beat the consensus by 175%. The company has continued to beat estimates every quarter till date.

From 4 Oct 2011 till yesterday, GLP has rallied 73.3%, outperforming the local bourse which has added 21.5% for the same period.

+8.8% in a week
More recently, GLP has made an increase of 8.8% in the past week (since 10 Sept close). This could be attributed to the company’s expansion plans in China. CEO Mei Ming Zhi is particularly interested in China as he said that “80% of China’s logistic facilities are old and obsolete”. He added that “the company wants to rebalance the portfolio and that it intends to grow faster in China”.

Plans in China boost stock price
GLP announced on 10 Sept 2012 that it will partner Haier to develop a state-of-the-art logistics network for the distribution of household appliances across China. The partnership is expected to expand GLP’s customer base within the home appliance distribution industry and further supply chain optimisation for Haier.

Two days later, Mr Mei Ming Zhi mentioned that he plans to spend 8bil yuan a year to build warehouse space in China and on 13 Sept, GLP ended at an all time high of $2.66.

Mapletree Commercial Trust: the RSI is overbought

Our pivot point is at 1.12.

Our preference: the upside prevails as long as 1.12 is support.

Alternative scenario: below 1.12, expect 1.1 and 1.09.

Comment: the RSI is above 70. It could mean either that the stock is in a lasting uptrend or just overbought and therefore bound to correct (look for bearish divergence in this case). The MACD is above its signal line and positive. The configuration is positive. Moreover, the stock is above its 20 and 50 day MA (respectively at 1.12 and 1.08). Mapletree Commercial Trust is currently trading near its 52 week high reached at 1.16 on 17/09/12.

Supports and resistances: 
1.21 *
1.2 **
1.19
1.155 last
1.13
1.12 **
1.1 *

Finance Practitioners in Singapore More Focused on Risk than Growth: Survey

The explosion in new regulations both in Singapore and internationally has resulted in Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) and Finance Directors (FDs) becoming more focused on reducing risk than they are on growth.

According to a survey by finance and accounting specialist recruitment firm Robert Half, 26 per cent of CFOs and FDs in Singapore say reducing risk is the most important function of their role. It ranks higher in importance than business strategy and growth, cited by 24 per cent of the respondents.

The survey was conducted among 603 CFOs and FDs – the top financial leaders in their company – and included 150 respondents from Singapore.

Globally, business strategy and growth is the top priority of 29 per cent of CFOs and FDs, while risk management comes in a close second with 28 per cent.

Stella Tang, Director of Robert Half Singapore, said that putting compliance and risk so high on the top management’s agenda is a result of the changed economic environment after the global financial crisis.

“Regulatory and legal changes – most designed to reduce the risk of economic shocks – are having an immense impact on senior financial leaders, not just in Singapore but around the world,” she said.

The focus on risk is also driving changes in the employment market with risk and compliance specialists finding themselves in high demand. After general accounting functions (41 per cent), the people CFOs and FDs are looking to hire now are risk and compliance specialists (38 per cent).

The survey also found risk management and compliance budgets have increased by 60 per cent in Singapore, compared to pre-2008 levels. And most of this expansion has been on hiring more qualified staff.

And contrary to widely held beliefs, men are no more or less inclined to taking risks than their female counterparts, with both genders in Singapore placing risk management at the top of their agenda.

Chinatown Mid-Autumn Festival 2012 Official Light-Up and Opening Ceremony

Date:	16 September 2012
Time:	7pm – 10pm
Venue:	Along New Bridge Road & Eu Tong Sen Street

The Chinatown Mid-Autumn Festival 2012 celebration will kick off with a rousing street parade, dragon dances performance, an exciting line-up of multi-cultural performances by local and overseas troupes from China as well as a spectacular fireworks display.

SGX Launches New OTC Options Suite

Singapore Exchange (SGX) launched Monday its new OTC options suite for SGX Iron Ore and SGX Forward Freight Agreements (FFA).

The SGX OTC options complement the SGX iron ore and FFA product suite and provide customers with a comprehensive suite of instruments for hedging, trading, and credit risk mitigation.

With this new suite, SGX customers are now able to efficiently clear their portfolio of commodities swaps and options with a single clearing house, and enjoy the benefit of margin offsets between options and the underlying swaps, SGX said.

The local bourse added that all option trades cleared from September 10 to October 31 will receive a 100 per cent clearing fee rebate. Active iron ore options customers who clear at least 500 lots of options during the same period will also receive fee rebates on their underlying iron ore swaps, SGX further said.

Iron Ore swaps clearing on the SGX accounted for over 90 per cent of all volume. A record monthly high was set in August of 14.88 million metric tonnes, and an all-time high was also set for month-end open interest of 9.18 million metric tonnes.

Sheng Siong Group: as long as 0.452 is support look for 0.516

Our pivot point stands at 0.452.

Our preference: as long as 0.452 is support look for 0.516.

Alternative scenario: the downside breakout of 0.452 would call for 0.43 and 0.416.

Comment: the RSI is above 50. The MACD is positive and below its signal line. The stock could retrace in the short term. Moreover, the stock is above its 20 and 50 day MA (respectively at 0.47 and 0.46).

Supports and resistances: 
0.53 *
0.516 **
0.502
0.47 last
0.461
0.452 **
0.43 *

Mapletree Commercial Trust: the upside prevails as long as 1.09 is support

Our pivot point is at 1.09.

Our preference: the upside prevails as long as 1.09 is support.

Alternative scenario: the downside breakout of 1.09 would call for 1.06 and 1.04.

Comment: the RSI is above 50. The MACD is positive and above its signal line. The configuration is positive. Moreover, the stock is above its 20 and 50 day MA (respectively at 1.09 and 1.05). Mapletree Commercial Trust is currently trading near its 52 week high reached at 1.14 on 04/09/12.

Supports and resistances: 
1.2 *
1.18 **
1.16
1.11 last
1.1
1.09 **
1.06 *

Suntec REIT: as long as 1.42 is support look for 1.51

Our pivot point stands at 1.42.

Our preference: as long as 1.42 is support look for 1.51.

Alternative scenario: the downside breakout of 1.42 would call for 1.4 and 1.38.

Comment: the RSI is above its neutrality area at 50. The MACD is positive and below its signal line. The stock could retrace in the short term. Moreover, the stock is trading above both its 20 and 50 day MA (respectively at 1.44 and 1.42). Suntec REIT is currently trading near its 52 week high reached at 1.48 on 18/07/12.

Supports and resistances: 
1.53 *
1.51 **
1.49
1.445 last
1.43
1.42 **
1.4 *

SGX Securities Trading Up in August

Volume of securities trading grew month-on-month in August though it was down year-on-year, the Singapore Exchange reported Wednesday.

Total securities turnover fell 29 per cent from August 2011 to S$29.4 billion but rose 11 per cent from a month earlier.

Catalist board was the winner in August with volume traded more than doubled to S$401 million year-on-year while ETF trading fell 55 per cent year-on-year to S$533 million.

On the derivatives side, volume fell 20 per cent to 6.5 million contracts on-year but rose 12 per cent month-on-month.

Daily average contracts traded fell 19 per cent year-on-year to 292,558 contracts but was up 8 per cent from July.

China A50 futures trading volume more than doubled to 730,699 contracts from a year earlier, while the Nikkei 225 futures volume fell 40 per cent year-on-year to 2.1 million contracts but was up 12 per cent on month.

Commodities trading volume also improved last month.

SICOM rubber futures volume rose 9 per cent from a year earlier to 20,052 contracts. Also,  OTC iron ore swaps volume more than tripled from a year earlier to 29,763 contracts, equivalent to almost 15 million metric tonnes. Volume was 42 per cent up from July.

For clearing of derivatives, the volume of new interest rate swap transactions cleared rose 80 per cent to S$7.9 billion notional from a year earlier.

Since the November 2010 launch of IRS clearing, cumulative volume of swaps cleared has exceeded S$290 billion notional, the SGX noted.