Date: August 1, 2024
Dear Members & Subscribers
Since the last time I addressed you, a lot has changed both here and around the world.
In the US, President Joe Biden has dropped his bid for re-election this year and made way for his Vice-President Kamala Harris to be the Democratic candidate in November’s US presidential elections against Republican candidate Donald Trump.
Prior to Mr Biden’s announcement, markets were anticipating a Republican win; however, now there is growing uncertainty as to who will occupy the Oval Office next year.
Analysts and political observers have been busy trying to figure out which party is better for the stock market but my view is that investors who do their homework and invest carefully do not need to be overly concerned over who the next US President might be as historical research into the topic has yielded inconclusive results.
As for the US economy, the latest economic data suggests that the Federal Reserve’s bid to bring inflation down to 2% is on track, albeit very slowly. Markets are reacting optimistically to the growing likelihood of a “soft landing’’ for the economy and as at the end of July, the futures market is pricing in a near-100% chance of a first interest rate cut at the September Open Markets Committee meeting.
On the local front, the Monetary Authority of Singapore recently announced new leverage guidelines for Real Estate Investment Trusts which give them greater borrowing leeway. Together with expectations of lower interest rates in the future, the sector is now expected to recover from its underperformance of the past few years.
With this backdrop in mind, these are the exciting and informative events SIAS has lined up for you for August. Apart from our regular weekly market reviews, our first corporate event will be on 6Th August, which is when our Corporate Connect Seminar will feature Lendlease Global Commercial REIT.
Those who have attended our previous Corporate Connect sessions will know that these events allow members of the public to pose questions to the participating companies after a presentation by senior management.
Next on 14th August is an educational session “Introduction to ETFs’’ or exchange traded funds. This will be conducted by SIAS’s senior editor and trainer R. Sivanithy.
On 20th August comes the next Corporate Connect session which will feature Cromwell REIT whilst on 21st August we have two events for you – Keppel’s annual briefing for retail shareholders and our regular “Ask SIAS’’ session where Sunny Soh and Gerald Wong will answer your pressing investment questions.
Rounding off an event-filled month is our 28th Aug session on “Understanding Shareholder Rights and Corporate Actions’’.
I hope many of you participate in these events and I wish you a fruitful month ahead.
Thank you
David Gerald
Founder, President & CEO, SIAS
1 August 2024
