Philip Chua Business Blog

Posts Tagged ‘question’

(SINGAPORE) The number of private homes that developers launched and sold in October slowed to their lowest levels since housing sales began their revival in February, according to latest official figures. While the outcome was expected, the big question is how long it will take for home sales to rev up again.
Buyers, especially in the price-sensitive mass-market segment, had begun to be fatigued … more

ONE big question that emerges from the whole sorry Sino-Environment saga is why trading of its shares continued for six months after it became likely that the company would be brought down by the problems that beset it.
Waste recycler Sino-Environment hit the headlines in March when its founder and chairman, Mr Sun Jiangrong, abruptly admitted he had put the company in jeopardy as a result of exce… more

As far as US monetary policy is concerned, the answer to this question became fairly clear this week. The weak labour market data had already prompted speculation that an exit from the ultraloose monetary policy was still a long way off. This week, comments from several US policymakers confirmed this…

Question: if investors are piling into ‘risky’ assets, a new version of the ‘carry trade’, then why aren’t they selling the Yen? Refugees from zero interest rate policies are understandable, but the pieces do not fit the puzzle properly. Last week’s ‘doji’ candle denotes instability at current levels, while all…

Investors would like a definitive answer to the question: Is the economy in fact in recovery?

EVERY stock market player would agree that rumours play an important role in daily trading. Yet, most fair-minded players would also agree that rumours which ultimately have a damaging effect on the market or are maliciously and intentionally spread in order to make an unfair profit at the public’s expense should not be tolerated. Which then leads to the intriguing question: Should rumours be regu… more

The Leading Economic Index may be giving us some key clues on the answer to the often asked question about what the letter shape of the economic recovery will most closely resemble (V, W, U or L). The LEI fell for 20 consecutive months following its peak in July 2007,…

WHILE it is appropriate for the government to continue monitoring the situation in the property market, the question is whether pre-emptive measures should be taken sooner rather than later to prevent a bubble from forming. It is instructive to consider the actions of the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA), which has largely managed to keep the country out of a recession.
Prior to the sub-prime crisi… more

HERE’S an interesting question that punters must surely be asking: how much more upside can there be in stocks, either for the rest of the year or the next 12 months?
Several brokers have, over the past few weeks, issued their Straits Times Index targets for the next 12 months (among them UBS Investment Research, DBS, Credit Suisse and Citi Investment Research) and there seems to be a loose consen… more

AS Wall Street prepares to get back to work tomorrow after today’s Labor Day holiday, which marks the unofficial end to the summer, the question investors face in what is likely to be a volatile month is who will be dominating the action, bulls or bears?
A year ago, investors returned from their end-of-summer weekend to face rampant speculation over Lehman Brothers’ fate and what would soon become… more