Is the Bear coming to stay?

As if trying to get out smoothly of the Fed's now-$65 billion monthly bond-buying stimulus isn't enough trouble, some think that the transition of the Fed Chairman's job from Ben Bernanke to Janet Yellen will likely lead to a fall in stock prices over the coming months.

First State Dividend Advantage 1st quarter 2014 payout

Hope for women who suffers recurrent miscarriages

Kelly Moseley, from Birmingham, endured 11 miscarriages each at about eight weeks before she contacted a miscarriage expert she had seen on television.

Hassan Shehata discovered that Kelly's pregnancies were being attacked by "natural killer cells" present in her body and decided to treat her with hydroxychloroquine.

Initially, Kelly continued to miscarry - including losing two babies at five months - before one year of taking the drug, she found out she was pregnant and Tyler was born in April 2013. He is now nine months old.

Kelly had been trying for a baby since 2002 when she married her husband Alan.

Even though all her family and friends begged her to stop trying after so many heart-breaking miscarriages, she refused to give up.

When she saw Mr Shehata interviewed about his work helping women who had experienced recurrent miscarriages, she was encouraged and made contact with him.

Eventually she was referred to the consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist's clinic at Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust in Surrey.

Killer cells

Mr Shehata and his colleagues had spent many years researching why some women's bodies reject pregnancies and their work was focused on natural killer cells which are present in everyone's white blood cells.

He said: "We found that some women's natural killer cells are so aggressive they attack the pregnancy, thinking the foetus is a foreign body - and that's what was happening to Kelly.

Kelly is preparing a big party to celebrate Tyler's first birthday

"Natural killer cells can be lowered by giving some women steroids - but for Kelly this didn't work so we tried an anti-malaria treatment which also lowers the immune system."

Mr Shehata said Kelly was the first patient to receive this treatment, in tablet form, of the immune modulator drug hydroxychloroquine.

Finally, she became pregnant with Tyler and although the pregnancy was complicated by pre-eclampsia, he was safely delivered at 28-29 weeks weighing just under 3lbs.

No 'holy grail'

"I still can't believe Tyler is here," Kelly says.

"I just refused to give up hope and I hope our story encourages other women out there too.

"I will never forget the babies I've lost but having Tyler makes it all worthwhile."

Mr Shehata told BBC Radio 5 Live that he has since treated 10 to 15 women with the drug and found it had a 70% success rate.

"It's important to say that it's not the holy grail, it's not for treating everyone.

"But hydroxychloroquine has been shown to be very safe in pregnancy."

Tyler spent a lot of time in a special baby care unit in Birmingham before he was allowed to come home, but he is now preparing to celebrate his first birthday in April surrounded by the whole family.

A spokesperson from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists said it was "interested" to hear that this drug could help women who suffer recurrent miscarriages, who tend to have problems with their immune system, but that it wasn't "standard practice".

Cache logistics trust financial results as at 21Jan2014

CACHE LOGISTICS TRUST?S FULL YEAR 2013 DISTRIBUTABLE 
INCOME INCREASED 14.1% TO S$65.6 MILLION 

- Net Property Income up 11.1% year-on-year to S$76.8 million in 2013 

- Full Year 2013 Distribution per Unit of 8.644 Singapore cents 

- 100% occupied portfolio with only 3% of its leased area up for renewal in 2014 
- Strong Balance Sheet with low aggregate leverage of 29.1% 

News as at 21/1/14. CD coming. 7.68% yield. Don't miss it!

Credit card data in South Korea has been leaked

The credit card information of 20 million South Koreans has been leaked, state regulators reported on January 19. In a country of 50 million, this marks one of the country’s most devastating security breaches ever. The perpetrator? Allegedly, a single engineer.

An employee of Korea Credit Bureau has been arrested for stealing the names, social security numbers, phone numbers, and credit card information of 20 million cardholders. Agence France-Presse reports that the employee then sold the data to multiple phone marketing companies, the managers of which have also been arrested.

None of the data have circulated, but all 27 top executives from KB Financial Group, one of the affected credit card companies, have offered to resign, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Boy dies in school during PE class

Case 1:

SINGAPORE: Police are investigating the death of a 16-year-old boy on Monday in his school.

The secondary four student of Tanglin Secondary School had fainted on Monday when he was jogging during a physical education (PE) class.

The school's principal told Channel NewsAsia the boy was attended to immediately by the staff.

He was unconscious when he was sent to the National University Hospital, and was later pronounced dead.

Case 2:

Thursday, Jan 16, 2014

The Straits Times

A 13-year-old student from Temasek Junior College died on Wednesday during a physical education (PE) lesson, after he reportedly had an asthma attack.

Bubble popping Singapore?

According to one recent article by Forbes, Singapore has a wealth bubble, a population bubble, a credit bubble, a property bubble, a construction bubble and our sovereign wealth funds are at risk. 

Put all these together and we have horror movie on "bubble popping Singapore"..

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jessecolombo/2014/01/13/why-singapores-economy-is-heading-for-an-iceland-style-meltdown/5/

Sabana Reits in first quarter 2014

Analysis of Sabana REIT

Current Price on 3rd January 2014 = $1.075

• Current Yield = 8.86%  
• Price-to-book Ratio = 0.993
• Assets per unit = $1.165
• Debt per unit = $0.369 (including current liabilities)
• Gearing = 38.7%

I am still suffering from capital loss from my sabana reits. Sigh!

Five Stars Tour Agency Closed Down

Its shock closure could not have come at a worse time.

Potentially hundreds, if not thousands, of travellers have been left in the lurch after popular coach and travel agency Five Stars Tour abruptly closed all eight of its branches across Singapore on Wednesday. 

As of 11.15am on Thursday, the Consumers Association of Singapore (CASE) received 102 complaints against the tour agency. 

News of the travel agency's closure was first reported by Chinese daily Lianhe Wanbao. In its report, it said Five Stars Tour had applied for a liquidation notice with the police.  

When this reporter visited its main branch at People's Park Complex on Thursday morning, a notice at its entrance read that the agency "has closed for business and stop providing services with immediate effect. We will be returning all passports to customers through registered article in the next few days".

It also said customers with unfulfilled trips can make claims through travel insurance or file claims through the Small Claims Tribunal or CASE.

Reply from NTUC fairprice on abandoned trolleys

Thank you for your feedback. 

We recognise that  abandoned trolleys is an industry-wide and persistent problem that needs sustained public education and we will continue to educate the public on the need to be considerate when using trolleys for grocery shopping.

 

With the majority of shoppers doing

the right thing and influencing and encouraging others to do so as well, we can create an even more pleasant shopping experience for everyone. 

Please call our Customer Relations hotline at 65522722 or email to general.feedback@fairprice.com.sg for any feedback on abandoned trolleys.

Founder of Shaw Brothers died at age 107

Run Run Shaw, the Hong Kong media mogul and philanthropist whose movie studio exported Chinese cinema to a global audience in the 1960s, has died.

The founder of Shaw Brothers (Hong Kong) Ltd. died at home at age 107 in the company of his family at 6:55 a.m. today, Television Broadcasts Ltd. said in a statement. Shaw was also a co-founder of Hong Kong’s biggest television company.

Singapore First Retirement Village

Marketing material describes the project, The Hillford, as a "retirement resort".

 It is expected to launch on Jan 10. 

The 281-unit project will boast 24-hour concierge service and 18 commercial units, such as food outlets, a convenience store, clinics and medical-related facilities.

Early price indications show a one-bedder of 398 to 431 sq ft could cost at least $400,000, or about $1,005 psf. 

A two-bedder of 506 to 560 sq ft could be at least $500,000, or about $988 psf. Prices of a 657 sq ft two-bedroom dual-key unit will start from $700,000, or at least $1,065 psf.

Mindful that it is only 60 year lease.

US market news: The 2014 year might be choppy?

This was the first time since 2008 that stocks opened with a drop. 

Investors are especially touchy about how stocks do in January since many feel it can be telling about the rest of the year. 

The last 40 times the S&P 500 has risen during its first five days, the market ended the year higher 34 times with an average gain of 13.6%, says Stock Trader's Almanac. 

Last January, the S&P rose 2.2% the first five days of what turned out to be best year for stocks in 16 years.

The market's worst first-five day period happened in 2008 when the S&P 500 lost 5.3%. And during that year, stocks fell 38.6%.

Beyond tax tactics, the first day of trading started off on a bad note after Wells Fargo downgraded its rating on electronic gadget maker Apple. 

That pushed Apple shares down 1.4% and weighed on the entire tech sector.

If anything, the choppy first day of trading is a reminder to investors that it's a new year and trading won't necessarily be as smooth as it was last year, says Ken Winans of Winans Investments. 

"It might be more of a trading market this year," he says. "The year might be very choppy."