Lone wolf investor

(Image credit: AsiaOne) September Musings   September marks the transition from summer to autumn. Oh boy, did anyone feel the chill in the stock market? More on the stock market later. Scan the Scam Another S which is making the headlines is the Nanning Scam. I previously warned about more people getting involved in the scam, knowingly or unknowingly. The appearance of an actor and an ex-MP at the Nanning dinner threw the spotlight on the scale of the operation. The scammers wanting to show a legitimate front have to “borrow” the established names of the actor and ex-mp to make the scam more convincing than it looks. Maybe the actor was told he will received a handsome appearance fees just by coming to the dinner. Both may or may not be involved. It is up to the police to investigate.  One will have to ask themselves if there is a kind of investment that promises high return. Why am I given an opportunity to participate alongside famous people and social elites given the huge ...

  (Source: MAS) The yield on Singapore Savings Bonds is being pushed up by interest rate hikes around the world due to a resurgence in inflation. Although our rates are on the low side as Singapore is in the club of good credit nations with the rare AAA rating. The first year yield of 1.65% is the highest over the past year, slowly rising to 3.01% on the 10th year. The average 10 year yield is 2.32%. The SSBs are poised for further increases in both short and long-term yields if the U.S federal reserve continues to hike rates. The rise in rates is good news for savers or safe investors who avoid excessive risk. It will be bad news for people who rely on borrowing as finance cost is likely to go up including business and housing loan.  We will see rates approaching 2.5% on average in the next SSBs in Nov. Our 10-year bond just hit above 2.52%. If the rates continue to climb above 3%, I will be looking to rotate out some of my older SSBs with shorter tenure to the newer issues t...

  (Contents) Paul Blustein, the author, starts the book with the overview of the dollar politics of recent years. The weaponising of the dollars to punish adversaries. Barring Russia and Iran out of the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Transactions or SWIFT in short, has undoubtedly undermined the status of the world reserve currency. Many countries, including those traditional allies affected by the tariff, have woken up to the idea that the dollar supremacy with its exorbitant privilege will one day affect them due to the unsustainable debt obligations of the US. There was a brief history of the status of the dollar as the dominant currency of the world. It started just after World War 2 when Britain was almost bankrupt due to debt owed to the Americans. On came the United States and the US dollars slowly replacing the British pound in the late 40s as the preferred currency of world trade. The faith of the dollar was sealed when then the U.S president, Franklin D. Roosev...

  (Image credit: Charlie Rose and Mr. Lee Kuan Yew) Before I start, I would like to pray for the victims of the Nepal-Tibet floods. I hope the survivors and communities can rebuild their lives as quickly as possible. I pray for their recovery and safety. God bless. 🙏 Commentary  Yours Faithfully, Mr. Lee I had my eyes glued to one particular auction that happened this month. A Montblanc pen, previously owned by SM Lee Kuan Yew, was back on the market for sale. Previously, the former owner bought it for $4,000 in a 2003 Sotheby’s auction. Mr. Lee is attributed to be the key architect of the founding of modern Singapore after gaining independence from the British. He had donated a fountain pen in the early 2000s for a charity auction. In the recent auction conducted by Hotlotz, a local online auctioneer, the pen was once again sold for a hair raising $461,500. The reason is clear why the new buyer was willing to pay a top price for the pen. The historical significance of the pe...

  (Image credit: GRACIOUSQUOTES.COM) Market Summary 24-30 Aug 2026 *USA*  -US headline PCE price index rose 0.2% MoM in Jul and 3.7% YoY, Core PCE index rose 0.2% and 3.3%, matching expectations  ± US GDP increase at annual rate of 1.5% in Q2: BEA on 2nd estimate  ± Warsh: Inflation must move toward target at sufficient speed; Fed has ‘work to do’ if above-target inflation persists  + US added average of 11,750 jobs per week in the 4th weeks end Aug 8: ADP  -US consumer sentiment index down 6.3% MoM to 51.7 in Aug, dropped 11.2% on annual level  -US consumer confidence dipped to 89.4 in Aug, vs 90.8 in Jul  -US trade deficit in goods rose by 17.2% from Jun to US$118.8bn in Jul  + US durable goods orders up 1.1% MoM or US$3.6bn in Jul to US$339.3bn  + US Treasury could tap into the US$1 trillion General AC to support govt bond buybacks: CNBC   ± US auctioned US$69bn in 2-year notes at high yield of 4.2%; bid-to-cover ratio 2.6, indic...