HDB and private property prices up in Q1 flash estimates

[Unregistered]

Japan current account surplus up 2.9%
Agence France-Presse
Tokyo, Japan
Thursday, 10 April 2008

Japan's current account surplus grew 2.9% in February from a year earlier, as higher income on overseas investments offset slower exports to the US, the government said on Thursday.

The nation with the world's second-largest economy had a surplus of 2.47 trillion yen (S$33.6 billion) in February in the current account, the broadest measure of trade in goods and services, the finance ministry said.

The figure was in line with market expectations.

The trade balance alone fell 6.6% to 1.03 trillion yen. Exports rose 9.0% to 6.67 trillion yen, while imports increased 12.5% to 5.63 trillion yen.

Although exports to the United States have been curbed by the US economic turmoil, shipments to Europe and the rest of Asia remain robust, the government said.

The services account deficit widened to 152.0 billion yen from 84.5 billion yen from a year earlier.

The surplus in the income account increased to almost 1.68 trillion yen from 1.47 trillion yen, as firms and households enjoyed higher returns on overseas investments.

The capital and financial account, which measures international fund flows, registered an outflow of 2.62 trillion yen compared to 1.76 trillion yen a year earlier.

Historically, Japan has run a large surplus in its current account, which measures the flow of goods, services and investment income.

Although Japan's economy was seen recovering from a slump stretching back more than a decade, sluggish consumer spending and fallout from the US credit market crisis is expected to slow Asia's largest economy this year.

That's better. Keep it up!

[Unregistered]

Singapore's Q1 GDP growth beats forecast on strong manufacturing sector
Thomson Financial
Singapore
Thursday, 10 April 2008, 02:44 GMT

Singapore's economy expanded at a forecast-beating 7.2% in the first quarter from a year earlier, led by a double-digit rebound in manufacturing, advance estimates by the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MIT) showed Thursday.

Economists polled by Thomson Financial were expecting an average 6.4% rise in the first quarter, with forecasts ranging from 5.2% to 7.8%. Growth in the fourth quarter was at 5.4%.

Seasonally adjusted, growth was much more robust at 16.9%, rebounding from the fourth quarter's 4.8% contraction, the ministry said.

"This was line with expectations of a rebound after weakness in the fourth quarter, which has been concentrated in manufacturing. They were assuming healthy manufacturing numbers in March but this does not alter the basic story [that there will be] moderation in growth in 2008," said David Cohen, chief economist at Action Economics.

The advance estimates by the ministry were based on available economic data for the first two months of the quarter.

According to the estimates, the manufacturing sector expanded by 13.2% in the first quarter from a year ago, sharply higher than the 0.2% growth in the fourth quarter, with biomedical output recovering from a slump.

"The rest of the manufacturing clusters also enjoyed a better performance in the first quarter, with the exception of the transport engineering and precision engineering clusters, where growth moderated," the government said.

Activity in the construction sector gained pace to double-digit levels but is expected to moderate from the strong fourth quarter.

The construction sector expanded by 14.6%, compared with 24.3% growth in the fourth quarter.

Growth in service industries continued to expand, led by financial services, but may have slightly moderated to 7.6% from 7.7% in the fourth quarter based on MTI's estimates.

The strong GDP numbers provided the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), the city-state's de facto central bank, the leeway to tighten its foreign exchange policy to tackle soaring inflation.

The consumer price index (CPI) in Singapore was up 6.6% in January, a 25-year high, with just a slight moderation to 6.5% in February.

The MAS said on Thursday it is re-centering its policy band at the current strong level of the Singapore dollar nominal effective exchange rate (NEER).

"They [MAS] seem like they are pretty confident that things are holding up nicely," said Cohen.

The MAS is still predicting GDP growth this year of between 4% and 6%, although growth is expected to ease in the next few quarters, while inflation is expected to be at the upper end of the central bank's forecast range of 4.5% to 5.5%.

"The [economic] outlook is still dependent on the global picture, which remains uncertain. Everyone is still nervous about the U.S. economy and how much it will drag down global demand," said Cohen.

Cheong ah!

[Unregistered]

Last year Spore GDP up 7.7%, property up 31%.
Q1 GDP is out this morning, up 7.2%, very closed to last year growth.

The signal is very clear, but still, not all will catch it right.

[Unregistered]

Last year Spore GDP up 7.7%, property up 31%.
Q1 GDP is out this morning, up 7.2%, very closed to last year growth.

The signal is very clear, but still, not all will catch it right.

wow, like that compare also can, this must be a desperate speculator. Last year's price of rice half, did you eat half of last year's amount of rice now?

[Unregistered]

Last year Spore GDP up 7.7%, property up 31%.
Q1 GDP is out this morning, up 7.2%, very closed to last year growth.

The signal is very clear, but still, not all will catch it right.

ya, i catch the ball now. property up too much last year. haha.

[Unregistered]

Last year Spore GDP up 7.7%, property up 31%.
Q1 GDP is out this morning, up 7.2%, very closed to last year growth.

The signal is very clear, but still, not all will catch it right.

ya, i catch the ball now. property up too much last year. haha. .

Hope that this year can still catch up with other cities, such as: Dubai, HK, Shanghai, Vietnam and many part of Asia.

Compared to Dubai which has increased by nearly 10 folds (1,000%) from 2002 to 2008, Singapore ppty prices hv truly far far left behind, despite the fact that govt has injected hundred billion dollars into infrastructure as well as the entire economy transformation. We don't want to see our govt investment fail to improve our assets value, do we?

[Unregistered]

Hope that this year can still catch up with other cities, such as: Dubai, HK, Shanghai, Vietnam and many part of Asia.

Compared to Dubai which has increased by nearly 10 folds (1,000%) from 2002 to 2008, Singapore ppty prices hv truly far far left behind, despite the fact that govt has injected hundred billion dollars into infrastructure as well as the entire economy transformation. We don't want to see our govt investment fail to improve our assets value, do we?

If last year had increased by 31%, this year should increase by at least 40%. Or else ppl might start to question govt why their billions budget did no wonder to improve our assets value.

[Unregistered]

Hope that this year can still catch up with other cities, such as: Dubai, HK, Shanghai, Vietnam and many part of Asia.

Compared to Dubai which has increased by nearly 10 folds (1,000%) from 2002 to 2008, Singapore ppty prices hv truly far far left behind, despite the fact that govt has injected hundred billion dollars into infrastructure as well as the entire economy transformation. We don't want to see our govt investment fail to improve our assets value, do we?

Slow and steady growth is the key. When Dubai falls 500% Singapore may fall only 50%.

[Unregistered]

Lehman Says It Liquidated Three Investment Funds

By Ambereen Choudhury

April 10 (Bloomberg) -- Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., the fourth-largest U.S. securities firm, said it liquidated three investment funds because of ``market disruptions.''

The funds' assets, valued at $1 billion on Feb. 29, were taken onto Lehman's balance sheet, the New-York-based firm said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. The firm also bought ``certain deteriorated assets,'' with a value of $800 million, from other unidentified funds, Lehman said.

``The funds used the cash received from the company to either redeem investors in the funds or make alternative asset investments,'' Lehman said in the filing yesterday.

More than 45 of the world's biggest banks, including Citigroup Inc. and UBS AG, have recorded a combined $232 billion in asset writedowns and credit losses since the beginning of 2007, including reserves set aside for bad loans. Falling U.S. house prices and rising delinquencies may lead to $565 billion in residential mortgage-market losses, the International Monetary Fund said in its annual Global Financial Stability report on April 8. Total losses, including those tied to commercial real estate, may reach $945 billion, the fund said.

Lehman was little changed at $40.52 by 11:26 a.m. in Frankfurt trading, after closing at $40.54 in New York yesterday. The stock has dropped 38 percent this year.

The liquidation of the funds was reported by the Wall Street Journal earlier today.

Further Writedowns Seen

Lehman may write down $2 billion in the second quarter and will face ``difficult'' market conditions this year, according to analysts at Deutsche Bank AG.

``While liquidity seems okay, we continue to expect more writedowns to equity and tougher revenues this year,'' analysts led by New York-based Mike Mayo wrote in a research note yesterday. Deutsche Bank rates the firm ``buy.''

Revenue at Lehman will decline to about the level of 2005, when it totaled $14.6 billion, Mayo wrote. The 2007 net revenue was $19.3 billion. Lehman plans to reduce risk by selling 20 percent of its $75 billion in mortgage assets and cut leverage by the same amount, according to Deutsche Bank.

OH THATS BAD. WE ARE IN FOR MORE PAIN.
SEEMS LIKE THE GREAT DEPRESSION ALL OVER AGAIN.

[Unregistered]

wow, like that compare also can, this must be a desperate speculator. Last year's price of rice half, did you eat half of last year's amount of rice now?

The speculator cant eat even half of the rice this year. While his property crashed, rice doubled. He now must be wishing he invested in rice rather than property.

[Unregistered]

Last year Spore GDP up 7.7%, property up 31%.
Q1 GDP is out this morning, up 7.2%, very closed to last year growth.

The signal is very clear, but still, not all will catch it right.

Does anyone get the smell I am getting? Its been around for a while. Fried and burning asses.....someone call the fire engine please. Speculative asses on fire.

[Unregistered]

Economy Loses 80,000 Jobs, Worse Than Expected
By Reuters | 04 Apr 2008 | 08:32 AM ET

US employers cut payrolls for a third month in a row in March, slashing 80,000 jobs for the biggest monthly job decline in five years as the economy headed into a downturn, government data on Friday showed.


The Labor Department revised the first two months of the year's job losses to a total of 52,000 from a previous estimate of 85,000. The March unemployment rate jumped to 5.1 percent from 4.8 percent, the highest since a matching rate in September 2005.

The March job report was more bleak than expected.

Economists polled ahead of the report forecast a decline of 60,000 in non-farm payrolls and a rise in the unemployment rate to 5 percent.

"It's not a good number, clearly," said David Bianco, chief US equity strategist at UBS. "But the market has been braced for a bad number. Almost every investor equity and otherwise would acknowledge that we are in a recession but we still think it is a mild recession and we are going to have pretty good profit conditions in the S&P 500 for this quarter and for the rest of the year."

During the first quarter of this year job losses averaged 77,000 a month, compared to average monthly gains of 76,000 in the last half of 2007, according to Keith Hall, Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner.

Job losses were widespread during the month, with the biggest losses in the construction and manufacturing sectors.

OH MORE CONDOS VACANT

[Unregistered]

OH MORE CONDOS VACANT

OHHHH.... So sad, I won't be able to able to stay in my condos for the next 2 years... OHHHH OHHHHH... At least my tenants are paying me 300k in rent over the 2 years... but still OHHHH OHHHH

[Unregistered]

OHHHH.... So sad, I won't be able to able to stay in my condos for the next 2 years... OHHHH OHHHHH... At least my tenants are paying me 300k in rent over the 2 years... but still OHHHH OHHHH

Ohhhh yessss Tulip's 164 owners adding to the glut. Ohhhhh prices dropping faster.

[Unregistered]

OH MORE CONDOS VACANT

OHHHH.... So sad, I won't be able to able to stay in my condos for the next 2 years... OHHHH OHHHHH... At least my tenants are paying me 300k in rent over the 2 years... but still OHHHH OHHHH

Ohhhh yessss Tulip's 164 owners adding to the glut. Ohhhhh prices dropping faster.

Hello, you from the US. We know you got retrenched and have just gone mad. But there is no need to reply to your own message again and again.

Come here if you want. There is a lot of vacancies.

Oh! By the way, this is CONDOsingapore.com - not CONDOusa.com. We don't discuss US condos here.

[Unregistered]

Last year Spore GDP up 7.7%, property up 31%.
Q1 GDP is out this morning, up 7.2%, very closed to last year growth.

The signal is very clear, but still, not all will catch it right.

Does anyone get the smell I am getting? Its been around for a while. Fried and burning asses.....someone call the fire engine please. Speculative asses on fire.

They are celebrating the 7.2% growth and the 4.2% increase with a BBQ.

Nice smell right? You like it?
They are roasting the sour grapes.

[Unregistered]

They are celebrating the 7.2% growth and the 4.2% increase with a BBQ.

Nice smell right? You like it?
They are roasting the sour grapes.

Ha ha ha! Make sour wine with sour grapes?

[Unregistered]

Ha ha ha! Make sour wine with sour grapes?

Haha they can only afford sour grapes. Oh told them not to speculate and lose everything. Can't even afford proper wine.
Ohhh the misery....

[Unregistered]

Haha they can only afford sour grapes. Oh told them not to speculate and lose everything. Can't even afford proper wine.
Ohhh the misery....

Exactly!

Already told those sour grapes not to speculate that Q1 price index and Q1 GDP would come down. They don't listen. See what happened now? Everything is up!

They can only afford sour grapes. Ohhh poor things!

[Unregistered]

Exactly!

Already told those sour grapes not to speculate that Q1 price index and Q1 GDP would come down. They don't listen. See what happened now? Everything is up!

They can only afford sour grapes. Ohhh poor things!

Yes, indeed, indeed.

[Unregistered]

The poor sour grapes have very tortured souls
Very "pek chek" cannot buy enough rice to fill the bowl

Money no enough to buy condos
Oh ... queue the HDB cannot get until grow old
Buay tahan the speculators earn so much gold
Internet forums is the only way to scold
Like the economy to turn cold
Every day kena tortured by that noisy thing (see vertical in BOLD).

[Unregistered]

GE Says Profit Fell, Citing Finance; Forecast Reduced

By Rachel Layne

April 11 (Bloomberg) -- General Electric Co. unexpectedly reported its first quarterly profit decline since 2003, sending U.S. and European stocks lower, as the credit market's seizure spread to the world's third-largest company by market value.

GE dropped as much as 12 percent in New York trading, the most since the October 1987 market crash. The decline wiped out as much as $42.2 billion in market capitalization, or more than the 2006 gross domestic product of Ecuador.

Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Immelt cut the annual forecast he had once told investors was ``in the bag'' for 2008 and repeated as recently as March 13. GE now says capital markets seized up just days later, forcing it to cut the value of some securities in the last two weeks of the quarter and blocking some asset sales. The Federal Reserve's March 14 move to help rescue Bear Stearns Cos. created ``a different world,'' he said today.

``We hate disappointing investors,'' Immelt said on the GE- owned CNBC television network. ``It's not part of the company. It's not part of the culture. We take accountability for that.''

Profit from continuing operations dropped to $4.36 billion, or 44 cents a share, from $4.93 billion, or 48 cents, a year earlier. Revenue rose 8 percent to $42.2 billion, less than GE's prediction of about $44 billion. GE was expected to earn 51 cents a share, the average of 15 analyst estimates in a Bloomberg poll.

``You're shocked'' by such results, Benjamin Pace, chief investment officer of Deutsche Bank Private Wealth Management in New York, told Bloomberg Television.

Shares Plummet

The stock dropped $4.23, or 12 percent, to $32.52 at 11:25 a.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares had fallen less than 1 percent this year compared with a 7.3 percent decline in the Standard & Poor's 500 index.

On a conference call today, analysts demanded that Immelt explain why he told retail investors on a March 13 Webcast that Fairfield, Connecticut-based GE would likely meet its annual forecast of at least $2.42 a share.

``Two days after the Webcast, the Bear Stearns situation took place,'' Immelt said. ``The last two weeks in March were a different world in financial services.''

The market turmoil also prevented GE from selling some finance assets, Immelt said. GE put its U.S. credit card business and Japanese consumer finance units up for sale last year. The health-care unit also trailed expectations.

The U.S. may be near a recession because of a slump in housing prices and a tightening of credit markets. Some members of the Fed's rate-setting Open Market Committee said at their March 18 meeting that they saw the risk of a ``prolonged and severe downturn'' in the U.S. economy, the world's largest.

`Biggest Misses'

``This is one of the biggest misses that GE's had in quite some time,'' said Nicholas Heymann, an analyst with Sterne Agee & Leach Inc., in an interview today. ``The pressure is on like it's never been on before for all senior management at GE.''

GE missed its own forecasts for its commercial and consumer finance units. That cut per-share profit by 5 cents and resulted in a lowered full-year forecast of $2.20 to $2.30 a share, down from the previous forecast of at least $2.42. Immelt had told investors in December that $2.42 a share was ``in the bag.''

``The quarter was disappointing,'' James Hardesty, president of Hardesty Capital Management in Baltimore, told Bloomberg Television. ``It does reflect a rather sharp economic slowdown that seems to be occurring in the U.S.''

Finance units may have a profit decline of 5 percent to 10 percent this year and non-financial units will increase 10 percent to 15 percent. That makes total profit little-changed to up 5 percent, GE said in its statement.

Didn't See It Coming

``This is something that we clearly didn't see until the end of the quarter,'' Immelt said on the conference call. ``What we did is try to reflect on that, not make excuses and take appropriate actions. The company's fundamentals remain strong. We believe that the strategy and the fundamentals remain strong.''

GE Healthcare, the world's biggest maker of medical imaging equipment, had a profit decline of 17 percent, below the predicted 5 percent rise. GE hasn't shipped its OEC X-ray machines from a plant for 20 months as it works to comply with an FDA consent decree. That cost about 1 cent a share, Immelt said.

GE Infrastructure, the largest of the six main segments, has units that focus on oil and gas equipment, jet engines, locomotives, power-turbines, water-treatment and aircraft leasing. Its revenue climbed 23 percent, more than forecast, driving a 17 percent increase in earnings, which matched GE's prediction.

Downgrades

Analysts at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Credit Suisse Group both cut GE's rating to ``neutral'' today. Fourteen analysts recommend buying the stock, and six suggest holding it. None recommend selling. Before today's earnings announcement, 16 analysts rated the stock a ``buy'' and four rated it ``hold.''

``There's probably a very good buy in here,'' Joseph Keating, chief investment officer of First American Asset Management in Birmingham, Alabama, said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. His firm manages $3 billion, including GE shares. ``They have a worldwide franchise in industrial products and with the decline of the dollar, their products are competitive worldwide.''

The cost of protecting bonds of GE, the biggest U.S. corporate borrower, reached the highest in almost two weeks. Credit-default swaps on GE's General Electric Capital Corp. increased 10 basis points to 131 basis points, according to broker Phoenix Partners Group in New York. The contracts have about doubled this year as the credit-turmoil that started in the U.S. housing market led investors to flee everything from commercial paper to leveraged loans.

Investors and analysts asked Immelt to assure them that GE's ability to forecast, and strategy as a whole, remained intact and whether this surprise decline eroded GE's reputation as a safe investment.

``I understand your frustration,'' Immelt said. ``I'm not going to be defensive about it, this is a company that's delivered for a long time. The franchise of the company is very strong. And I feel the same about the strategy of the company.''

Wow what did you just say?
GE had the biggest fall since 1987? You can't be kidding. GE is all about world economy. You mean eqvivalent amount to Equador's GDP wiped out in a few minutes? Tell me you are kidding....for God's sake. I have a weak heart.

[Unregistered]

Nikkei ends up 2.9%, led by Retailers on Positive Outlooks
Taiga Uranaka
Reuters
Tokyo, Japan
Friday, 11 April 2008

Japan's Nikkei average rose 2.9% on Friday, snapping a three-day losing streak, with retailers Fast Retailing Co and Seven & I Holdings jumping on solid profit outlooks.

Japan's second-largest bank Mizuho Financial Group extended gains after disclosing additional subprime-related trading losses.

"Mizuho shares were bought as investors saw negative news as having run its course for the time being. The market had priced in subprime problems to a considerable degree," said Harushige Kobayashi, head of the research department at Maruwa Securities.

High-tech shares such as Advantest Corp advanced after their U.S. peers lifted Wall Street on a brokerage upgrade of chip makers.

"The previous three days' losses were caused by trades in connection with SQ. Now, with that over, the lid on the market is off," said Katsuhiko Kodama, senior strategist at Toyo Securities.

The closely watched settlement price, known in Japan as the special quotation or "SQ", is calculated from the opening prices of the 225 shares on the Nikkei average on the second Friday of the month.

The price for options contracts expiring in April is likely to have come to 13,129.58, according to market sources.

The benchmark Nikkei ended up 2.9% at 13,323.73. The index gained 0.2 percent for the week.

The broader TOPIX index added 2.5% to 1,278.62.

Retailers High

Shares of Fast Retailing jumped 5.2% to 10,100 yen, the biggest contributor to the Nikkei, after the retailer raised its full-year operating profit forecast by 10% to 80.1 billion yen on the back of a recovery at its Uniqlo casual-clothing chain.

Seven & I Holdings shot up 11.6% to 2,895 yen after Japan's largest retailer said it would buy back and cancel up to 170 billion yen of its shares and Mitsubishi UFJ Securities lifted its rating on the stock to "1" from "2", saying the shares are cheap considering an expected improvement in return on assets.

Seven & I posted its first drop in full-year operating profit in six years, hit by weak consumer spending and tough competition, but it forecast a recovery this year as it closes unprofitable outlets.

Daiei Inc jumped 13.7% to 631 yen after the supermarket operator said it expects its operating profit this business year to rise 24.6% to 18 billion yen, better than a forecast of 13.6 billion yen in a poll of three analysts by Reuters Estimates.

"Investors' buying interest is turning towards domestic, non-manufacturing sectors since they're less affected by the stronger yen," said Maruwa's Kobayashi.

Mizuho extended gains, ending up 5.2% at 407,000 yen, after the banking group said during the midday break that it expected 400 billion yen ($3.9 billion) of subprime-related trading losses at its unlisted brokerage, Mizuho Securities, for the year ended in March.

The bank said it now expects a net profit of 310 billion yen ($3.1 billion) for the year to March 2008, down nearly 60% from its original estimate of 750 billion yen.

Takeda Pharmaceutical Co Ltd fell 2% to 5,300 yen, becoming the biggest drag on the Nikkei 225, after news of its $8.8 billion acquisition of U.S. biotech company Millennium Pharmaceuticals Inc in the biggest overseas buyout by a Japanese drugmaker.

Technology shares gained, with Advantest, the world's largest maker of microchip testers, up 5.3% at 2,795 yen.

On Thursday, Intel Corp shares jumped and helped lift all three major U.S. stock indexes after Banc of America Securities upgraded the U.S. semiconductor sector, saying a modest inventory buildup has eased.

Trade was moderate on the Tokyo exchange's first section, with 2 billion shares changing hands, compared with last week's daily average of 1.9 billion.

The future looks bright and good.

[Unregistered]

The future looks bright and good.

That's why surged 2% today.

HK shares jumps 2% to 2-month high as Chinese banks lead way
Judy Hua
Reuters
Hong Kong SAR
Friday, 11 April 2008

Hong Kong stocks rose 2% to a 2-month closing high on Friday, tracking higher overseas markets, with financial plays leading the gains as Chinese banks flagged rosy profit forecasts.

Investors are cautious, however, as they await key economic data from China and the United States, as well as quarterly results from major U.S. financial institutions next week to gauge the outlook for the global economy.

"China's stock market is still soft and lacks momentum even though it has stablised," said KGI Asia Ltd associate director Ben Kwong. "Investors are waiting for major economic data to assess if there is further need for tightening."

"Technically, the (Hong Kong) market is quite resilient," he said, adding that he expected short-term support at 23,900.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index ended 480.69 points higher at 24,667.79. The China Enterprises Index of Hong Kong-listed mainland companies , or H shares, gained 2.76% to 13,357.12.

Mainboard turnover rose to HK$77.14 billion ($9.9 billion) from HK$74.81 billion.

Chinese banks jumped after they estimated sharply higher first-quarter earnings due to higher interest on consumer lending as Beijing grants lenders more flexibility in pricing loans.

China Merchants Bank closed up 4.6% at HK$29.85 after it estimated that net profit surged at least 140% in the first quarter of this year.

China Construction Bank rose nearly 2.8% as investors expect it to post strong earnings after the market close.

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the country's largest bank and the most active stock for the day, climbed 2.8%, while smaller rival Bank of Communications soared 5%.

Another bright spot was China Coal Energy, the country's No.2 coal producer, which jumped more than 5% to HK$15.94 after Citigroup upgraded it to buy from hold as it plans to sell more coal on domestic spot market this year, which should drive margins.

Offshore oil specialist CNOOC Ltd rose 4.6% and its bigger rival PetroChina climbed 2.8% after they signed landmark deals to buy liquefied natural gas from top LNG exporter Qatar.

TPV Technology, the world's largest maker of PC monitors, jumped 4%to HK$5.24 after JP Morgan upgraded it to overweight from neutral on margin improvement and likely market share gain.

But mobile phone and electronics components maker BYD bucked the broad market trend, tumbling as much as 12% to close at HK$12.90 after its Taiwanese rival, Hon Hai Precision Industry, said BYD's vice president Xia Zuoquan had been detained.

CLSA downgraded BYD to underperform from buy, citing accelerating legal disputes between BYD and Foxconn International over alleged patent infringement. Foxconn jumped 7.3% to HK$11.70.

Kingdee International Software Group Ltd, China's second-largest designer of software, fell 11% to HK$6.84 after the company and its chairman sold up to $21.5 million worth of shares.

[Unregistered]

URA releases flash 1st quarter 2008 private residential property price index

The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) released today the flash estimate of the price index of private residential property for 1st Quarter 2008.

Based on the estimated price index of private residential property, prices rose from 170.8 points in the 4th Quarter 2007 to 178 points in the 1st Quarter 2008. This represents an increase of 4.2%, compared with the 6.8% increase in the previous quarter (see Annex A).

URA also released today the flash estimates of the price changes in the 3 geographical regions for 1st Quarter 2008. Prices of non-landed private residential properties increased by 4.4% in Core Central Region, 3.9% in Rest of Central Region and 4.8% in Outside Central Region in the quarter (see Annex B). In comparison, for 4th Quarter 2007, prices of non-landed private residential properties increased by 7.5% in Core Central Region, 7.7% in Rest of Central Region and 7.0% in Outside Central Region.

The flash estimates are compiled based on transaction prices given in caveats lodged during the first ten weeks of the quarter supplemented by information on the number of new units sold. The statistics will be updated 4 weeks later when URA releases the full 1st Quarter 2008 real estate statistics, when more data on the caveats lodged and the take-up of new projects are captured. Past data have shown that the difference between the quarterly price changes indicated by the flash estimate and the actual price changes could be significant when the change is small. The public is advised to interpret the flash estimates with caution.

The Government will continue to monitor prices closely and release relevant price sensitive information in a timely manner. On the supply side, as at 4th Quarter 2007, there are about 64,900 private residential units in the pipeline, of which about 56,100 new private housing units are expected to be completed between 2008 and 2011. About 38,300 units of the supply in the pipeline (or 59%) have not been sold by developers yet. Prospective home-buyers are advised to take into consideration the ample pipeline supply of private housing when making decisions on property purchase.

These are the real facts and figures.

[Unregistered]

中国一游客用银联卡 一天在本地消费60万元 ($600,000)
联合早报
2008-04-11

人民币不断升值，鼓励越来越多中国旅客出境旅游。接受银联卡消费，将成为本地商家提升业绩的“润滑剂”。中国银联人士透露，有中国游客一天内在新加坡用多张银联卡消费了60万新元(S$600,000)！

中国银联国际业务总部副总裁黄兴海昨天在第13届卡和付费亚洲峰会（Cards & Payments Asia）指出，人民币缓慢增值的趋势，意味着人民币越来越值钱，也促进中国居民出境旅游和消费。“我认为这完全是好现象，因为中国旅客带来的商机很大，对新加坡旅游业、银行、商户都是好事情。”

尽管没有具体数据能说明自“破八”（跌破一美元兑八元人民币心理关卡）以来，人民币升值在多大程度上使银联卡业务受惠，黄兴海承认，中国银联是人民币升值的受益者，“对我们肯定有利”。

香港、澳门、新加坡是中国旅客的主要旅游地，这些以华人为主的城市对银联卡的接受度要高于欧美城市。目前，每年到访新加坡的中国旅客都超过100万人次，是新加坡第二大外国旅客来源，每年消费额超过18亿新元。根据保守估计，未来十年中国旅客出境旅游人数，每年将以10.4％速度增长。

中国银联自2005年1月开始，与星网电子付款公司（NETS）成为合作伙伴，目前本地星展银行、大华银行及花旗银行的自动提款机，都接受银联卡提款交易，覆盖率近100％。

中国银联新加坡代表处首席代表杨建民说，过去，中国游客经常随身携带大量现金，在外国匪徒眼里是“流动提款机”，经常遭抢劫。使用银联卡，既方便又安全。

中国银联新加坡高级市场代表刘裕德指出，中国政府规定出境不能携带超过两万元人民币或6000美元的现金，而信用卡又有消费额度限制。

“银联卡提供另一种消费渠道。如果商户不接受银联卡，顾客走进他们商铺的消费能力，就取决于身上的现金有多少；如果可以使用银联卡，他们的消费能力就无限扩大。比如，一名顾客要买一件昂贵的商品，只要一通电话让亲友把钱存入他的银行账户，马上就可以转账。”

杨建民透露，去年到访新加坡的中国旅客比前年增加了9万人次，但通过银联卡消费的业绩却上升了近80％。该公司的消费记录显示，曾有一名中国旅客刷银联卡，买走了一只价值20万新元的名贵手表。“还有人通过两、三张银联卡，一天之内就在乌节路上多家商场消费了60万元。”

中国银联成立于2002年3月，总部设在上海，是全中国统一的银行卡跨行交易清算系统。截至2007年底，中国境内发卡机构有150多家，发卡总量超15亿张，同时在中国旅客常去的26个国家和地区获得接纳。

... China RMB getting very very strong ... Chinese getting very very rich
... Singapore getting very cheap ... Singapore goods are very reliable
... so record number of Chinese tourists come to Singapore

... they keep buying things like there is no tomorrow ...
... tourism receipts from Chinese tourist is at record high ...

... one Chinese tourist spent S$600,000 in one day ...

They are here to buy buy buy.
We have better buy buy buy before they try try try.

[Unregistered]

OHHHH.... So sad, I won't be able to able to stay in my condos for the next 2 years... OHHHH OHHHHH... At least my tenants are paying me 300k in rent over the 2 years... but still OHHHH OHHHH

Ohhhh yessss Tulip's 164 owners adding to the glut. Ohhhhh prices dropping faster.

Nonsense! What "adding to the glut"?

Tulip Garden didn't en bloc is good news.

If Tulip Garden en bloc then the 164 units double into 328 units, then got glut.

Now the en blocs are on hold, that's good news because fewer units coming up in the future.

Plus increasing number of foreign talents coming to Singapore, my rental can stay high.

Teach you all a secret. No need to work also can earn money.

Borrow from the bank at 3%, tenant out at 5%. Keep the 2%.

The bank is giving me money!

I collect about $80,000 p.a. in rentals from my 3 properties (OK lah I'm exposed, my properties are mass market type not the high-end condo). I pay the bank about $50,000 p.a. in interest. So I earn $30,000 p.a. extra income. Not bad lah.

[toaler]

Nonsense! What "adding to the glut"?

Tulip Garden didn't en bloc is good news.

If Tulip Garden en bloc then the 164 units double into 328 units, then got glut.

Now the en blocs are on hold, that's good news because fewer units coming up in the future.

Plus increasing number of foreign talents coming to Singapore, my rental can stay high.

Teach you all a secret. No need to work also can earn money.

Borrow from the bank at 3%, tenant out at 5%. Keep the 2%.

The bank is giving me money!

I collect about $80,000 p.a. in rentals from my 3 properties (OK lah I'm exposed, my properties are mass market type not the high-end condo). I pay the bank about $50,000 p.a. in interest. So I earn $30,000 p.a. extra income. Not bad lah.

woah you are one investor with high risk profile

[jlrx]

Testing ... testing ...

How come this condosingapore forum cannot post using unregistered anymore?

Now must use my nick to post ...

Is it true?

[jsh]

Testing ... testing ...

How come this condosingapore forum cannot post using unregistered anymore?

Now must use my nick to post ...

Is it true?

I think so. I believe this will be very good for this forum. I just tried to reply but was directed to log in first otherwise cannot post.

Hopefully this will lead to more responsible & less vulgar words.

3 Cheers to the moderators of this forum for taking this step.