Bank of China (BOC) Lunar New Year SGD Time Deposit Promotion

Usher in the Lunar New Year with high promotional rates plus attractive shopping vouchers with Bank of China's SGD Time Deposits of S$50,000 and above.

Deposit Amount (SGD)	Tenor	Promotional Rates	Promotional Gifts
		(p.a.)
$50,000 to $199,999	9-month	1.38%	-
	12-month	1.38%	S$50 Shopping Voucher
	36-month	1.43%	S$400 Shopping Voucher
$200,000 and above	9-month	1.39%	-
	12-month	1.39%	S$300 Shopping Voucher
	36-month	1.45%	S$1,600 Shopping Voucher

Promotion period is from 26 January 2015 for a limited time period only.

Please refer to the website for more details.

Straits Times Index (STI) Component Stocks Review

On Friday, the last trading day of January 2015, the Straits Times Index (STI) closed near 3,400 points, its highest level in a year. Is this the time to shy away from the stock market, given that it has broken new highs or should we stay invested? With the reduction of the minimum board lot sizes, it is finally time that our young investors have sufficient capital to invest in pricier blue chips.

Today, we take a closer look at our STI 30 component stocks, which are the 30 stocks with the highest market capitalisation listed on the stock exchange. We will use the SGX Stock Screener and see if there are any interesting stocks still worth investing in, based on S&P Capital IQ Consensus and individual stock attributes.

STI Constituents as at 30 January 2015

Counter Name	Potential Upside	Current Price	Target Price^	Mkt. Cap.in S$ mm	Tot. Rev.in S$ mm	P/E	To consider?
Ascendas Reit	-0.4%	2.46	2.45	6,086.4	638.9	13.637
CapitaLand *	11.8%	3.48	3.889	15,033.6	3,781.1	15.495	N
CapitaMall Trust	4.9%	2.09	2.193	7,616.8	658.9	12.380
CityDev	3.5%	10.05	10.399	9,229.4	3,654.5	16.051
ComfortDelGro	1.6%	2.87	2.916	5,991.1	3,994.5	21.418
DBS *	12.0%	19.79	22.166	49,555.0	9,216.0	11.919	Y
Genting Sing	16.8%	1.08	1.261	12,744.2	2,917.6	22.737	N
Global Logistic	28.8%	2.53	3.259	12,487.0	856.3	16.974	N
Golden Agri-Res	21.2%	0.42	0.509	5,648.5	9,815.6	17.183	N
HongkongLand USD	3.0%	10.031	10.333	24,070.7	1,929.0	15.581
HPH Trust USD	3.0%	0.968	0.997	8,515.4	2,060.9	28.172
Jardine C&C	0.8%	42.3	42.647	15,000.4	24,037.9	13.267
JMH USD	-2.0%	86.73	85.011	29,683.7	48,662.5	15.556
JSH USD	7.9%	47.419	51.184	55,070.5	39,479.5	13.000
Keppel Corp *	9.1%	8.70	9.494	14,965.8	13,283.0	8.035
Noble	38.1%	1.065	1.471	6,908.0	128,261.9	26.602	N
OCBC Bank	9.5%	10.4	11.389	41,587.1	7,738.1	9.644
Olam Intl *	19.3%	1.975	2.357	4,832.6	19,399.4	8.365	Y
Sembcorp Ind *	14.2%	4.31	4.92	7,617.8	11,204.4	9.916	Y
Sembcorp Marine	7.0%	3.00	3.211	6,226.3	6,080.4	10.947
SGX *	0.2%	7.77	7.782	8,333.0	702.2	26.373
SingTel *	1.5%	4.08	4.143	63,463.3	16,848.7	17.580
SIA *	-5.9%	12.65	11.904	14,771.9	15,090.3	74.253
SIA Engineering	-9.8%	4.36	3.934	4,921.4	1,174.2	22.297
SPH	-5.3%	4.13	3.911	6,612.9	1,193.8	17.847
StarHub	-3.3%	4.18	4.042	7,198.8	2,353.5	20.144
ST Engineering *	9.3%	3.36	3.672	10,518.0	6,632.3	18.875
ThaiBev	9.4%	0.72	0.788	18,832.5	6,348.4	21.945
UOB	6.9%	23.18	24.773	37,153.1	6,741.0	11.515
Wilmar Intl	12.1%	3.22	3.61	20,528.9	56,006.1	14.333	N
^ Based on S&P Capital IQ Consensus
* Temasek as main shareholder

Based on comparison between the current price and the target price based on S&P Capital IQ Analysts' Consensus, we have 9 stocks (shaded in green) with potential upside of more than 10% still worth looking at.

However, after filtering them based on the Price-to-earnings ratio (P/E) criteria of less than 12, only 3 stocks are remaining, namely DBS, Olam and SembCorp Industries (shaded in yellow). The P/E ratio is the company's current price divided by its earnings per share over the past 12 months.

Incidentally, these are shares owned by Temasek Holdings. I have the habit of tracking the main shareholders of companies to see if the share price or the financial performance are better than others.

What do you think of the results of my stock screening? Let us know how you select your stocks?

Please refer to my previous post for more on the SGX Stock Screener here.

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) RMB and SGD Time Deposit Promotion

ICBC Singapore is celebrating its new Paya Lebar branch opening by offering attractive rates for its RMB and SGD time deposits. ICBC has 5 branches in Singapore now.

RMB Amount	3-Month	6-Month	12-Month
Below RMB 5 Million	2.80%	2.90%	3.40%
RMB 5 Million (inclusive) and above	3.00%	3.20%	3.50%

SGD Amount	12-Month
SGD 500-5,000	1.20%
SGD 5,000-200,000	1.35%
SGD 200,000 (inclusive) and above	1.40%

For those of us who have less to put away for 12 months, ICBC offers a pretty decent rate of 1.2% p.a. for amounts starting from S$500 while most other banks are looking at amounts upwards of $25,000.

Please refer to the website for more details.

Maybank Saver Series 8 Structured Deposit

From 2 February to 5 March 2015, invest in Maybank Saver Series 8 Structured Deposit and earn up to 11% over 5 years, including a bonus interest of 1% at the end of Year 5.

Key info:

• 5-year Structured Deposit
• 100% Principal Guaranteed at Maturity
• Minimum Investment Amount of S$30,000

Tenure		Year 1	Year 2	Year 3	Year 4	Year 5	Potential Total Payout
Guaranteed Annual Payout	SGD	2%	2%	2%	2%	2% + 1%*	11%
* Bonus interest of 1% is only applicable at end of Year 5, if the 6-month Singapore Dollar Swap Offer Rate is 3.5% or above.

Please refer to the website for more details.

If you ask me, this may not be the best time to invest in structured deposits at 2% p.a. as we expect interest rates to go up this year and currently, banks are starting to offer interest rates of 1.5% p.a. for time deposits with a tenure of 12 months, so your funds get locked up for a shorter period of time. As a result, you can be more nimble to take advantage of any market opportunity that arises during the 5 year period.

Something to note when you invest in structured deposits is that you are exposed to the credit risk of Maybank, the issuer and early termination risk as Maybank has the option (but not the obligation) to terminate this product at the end of every year.

However, for those of us who prefer more interest rates certainty, it may not be a bad choice.
 

SG50 MaxMaternity Care and OCBC Child Development Account Promotion

For those of us who are expecting a new baby this year, OCBC is celebrating Singapore's 50th birthday with a double bonus of S$216. Just sign up for MaxMaternity Care during the Promotion Period and subsequently open an OCBC Child Development Account by 31 July 2016 and be entitled to the following:

1) S$108 Cash Reward
credited into Child Development Account, matched dollar-for-dollar by the Government
                                 
2) S$108 Premium Voucher

for use on SupremeHealth Plan to give your child medical coverage. SupremeHealth is a Medisave-approved Integrated Shield Plan by The Great Eastern Life Assurance Company Limited.

The Promotion Period is from 1 January 2015 to 31 December 2015.

Please refer to the website for more details.