Friday, February 18, 2011

Singapore Budget 2011

Budget 2011 for Individiuals

  1. CPF: Raise the employer contribution rate by another 0.5 percentage points, from 15.5%  to 16%, which will restore the total contribution rate to 36%. The additional 0.5% will go into the Special Account. Revise the CPF Salary Ceiling from $4,500 to $5,000 per month. To take effect in September 2011.
  2. Income Tax Reduction for 2011: Personal income tax rebate of 20% for individual resident taxpayers for YA 2011. The rebate will be capped at $2,000
  3. Income Tax Reduction for 2012 (see table 1) 
  4. Growth Dividends (see table 2) by 1st May 2011
  5. Household rebates (see table 3)
  6. SRS: Raise the contribution cap within the Supplementary Retirement Scheme. 
  7. Child Development Credit scheme ($300-$400) for all Singaporean children aged six and below. The Child Development Credit can be used to pay for their children’s preschool, childcare, and medical expenses. The Child Development Credit will be paid into the Children Development Accounts (CDAs), which most children already have.
  8. Top-up each primary and secondary school student’s Edusave account by $130
  9. Top-up CPF Medisave Accounts of Singaporeans aged 45 and above. Those aged 45 to 49 will receive up to $300, while those aged 50 to 59 will get a top-up of up to $400. Older Singaporeans will receive more, with those 80 and above getting up to $700
  10. Remove radio ($27) and television ($110) licence fees permanently


Table 1

Table 2

 Table 3

Industries that will benefit from Budget 2011
  1. Banks: Exempt all interest payments made by banks and similar financial institutions from withholding tax.
  2. Maritime (shipping, ports, ship builders): Withholding tax exemption for interest payments on loans to build or buy ships. GST zero-rating for repair and maintenance services performed on ship parts and components.
  3. Biomedical: GST relief for imported clinical trial materials, as well as enhance the Approved Contract Manufacturer and Trader Scheme
  4. Commodities:  Enhance the Global Trader Programme to qualify all derivative trades under the scheme
  5. Green Vehicles: Extend the Green Vehicle Rebate scheme for another year till 31 December 2012. In the meantime, we will undertake a comprehensive review on the measures to promote the adoption of green vehicles, as part of our overall efforts to promote sustainable development
  6. IT and Machinery Suppliers: Allow businesses to deduct from their taxable income 400% of their expenditures in any of the six broad categories of investment under the scheme, for example, training or investment in automation equipment
  7. Construction:  Spend $10 billion to upgrade homes and rejuvenate estates over the next 10 years
  8. Specialised storage facilities that store high-value collectibles such as art and antiques: GST zero-rating for specified services supplied to overseas persons, if they are performed on goods kept in qualifying specialised warehouses and eventually sent overseas

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Industries to look out

Some industries that are worth looking out for potential companies with great future:
  1. Telco - The trend of channels providing retail shopping might change the way people buy and sell stuff
  2. Battery - With mobility the norm, alot hinges on good battery to support the life of devices
  3. High speed train providers - Time will come where high speed train will be the norm. With air security getting tighter and more inconvenient, the preferred mode of transportation might switch. 
    1. Csr Corp Ltd. Previously China South Locomotive & Rolling Stock Corporation Limited.  world's largest manufacturer of electric locomotives. In 2002 the group manufactured the 270 km/h (170 mph) China Star high speed EMU
  4. Ports - With global trade ever increasing, this is one big cash cow.

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Property and M2

Ms Teh Hooi Ling published an article in the Business Times on 29th Jan 2011, titled "How money grows in Singapore". In the article, she compiled the GDP, M2 money supply and Property Index for Singapore.

M2 money supply includes currency in active circulation, demand deposits of private sector, fixed deposits, savings and other deposits.


From the chart, it seems that property index follows the GDP pretty closely, other than 1997 period where it was well known to have a property bubble which subsequently burst.

Of course, this may not be the cause and effect, but it does make sense that property pricing goes hand in hand with GDP, which goes hand in hand with M2. If this correlation is strong, then the existing property prices seems to be fair, and likely sustainable. 

Thursday, February 3, 2011

BP resumes dividend payment

BP announced on 1st Feb 2011 that it will resume dividend payment for Q4 2010.

42cents per ADR to be given on 28th Mar 2011.

Although this is only exactly half of what it used to give before the oil leak crisis, it is nevertheless a good start. And with U.S$ depreciating, it is now cheaper to buy than before.

Link to BP's dividend history: http://www.bp.com/extendedgenericarticle.do?categoryId=9033054&contentId=7060587 (if the link does not work, traverse www.bp.com -> investors -> Shareholder Services -> ADS shareholders -> Dividend History)


Previous post on BP:
  1. http://sgretailinvestor.blogspot.com/2010/05/bp-plc-adr.html
  2. http://sgretailinvestor.blogspot.com/2010/06/bp-how-deep-is-deepwater-horizon-oil.html

Sunday, January 30, 2011

Online Car Insurance Quotes





Online Insurers seem to offer much lower pricing. These are some of the insurers featured in Straits Time on 30th Jan 2011.


Aviva - http://www.aviva.com.sg/car-insurance/index.html
CompareXpress - http://www.comparexpress.com/
DirectAsia - http://www.directasia.com/onlineinsurance/insurance-online.aspx
Insure2Give - http://www.insure2give.com/

Aviva doesn't seem to offer NCD protector.

I personally chose DirectAsia.

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Properties Affected by North-South Expressway (NSE)


Partially Affected (part of their fences, boundary walls and grass verge acquired):
- Castle Green in Yio Chu Kang
- The Nuovo in Yio Chu Kang
- The Seletaris in Sembawang
- Boon View
- Thomson 800
- Tresalveo


Full Acquired
- three-storey freehold homes along Marymount Road

- Marymount Terrace
- 6 terrace house in Jalan Kuak

Industrial estates owned by JTC and HDB in places like Sin Ming and Woodlands will be acquired by the government

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Charles Nenner 2011 updates


Remember his previous predictions of stocks falling to a major low due Christmas Eve? Christmas has since passed, and he had updated his predictions:

  • S&P peak at 1480 at end Jan 2011 in best case scenario
  • He will sell his position if the SPX goes below 1248, or by January 25, whichever occurs first
  • Germany & US will be the equity markets of choice during 2011, while emerging markets are to be avoided 
  • Stock Picks
    • Bank of America - Potential target $14.70
    • Baidu - Potential target $120
    • ExxonMobile 
    • Occidental Petroleum - Potential target another 10%
He is bearish on Aussi dollars and Yen. He is also bearish on Gold (topping around $1,440) and silver (around $31)


Past References:
  1. http://sgretailinvestor.blogspot.com/2010/09/charles-nenner-track-record.html
  2. http://sgretailinvestor.blogspot.com/2010/08/charles-nenner-updates.html
  3. http://sgretailinvestor.blogspot.com/2010/06/charles-nenner-2010-2011-investor.html
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