SGD

[millionairemind]

hehe.. the only reason why I was paying so much attention to USDSGD exchange rate was because I have been very busy buying...

Not stocks but stuff from the US...

[learn2win]

hehe.. the only reason why I was paying so much attention to USDSGD exchange rate was because I have been very busy buying...

Not stocks but stuff from the US...

Buy a house in US instead.

[Aspellian]

hehe.. the only reason why I was paying so much attention to USDSGD exchange rate was because I have been very busy buying...

Not stocks but stuff from the US...

wow... i heard about buying stuff from US, maybe i should find out more from u what good bargains there are in US.

[LenaHuat]

Would u follow Sean Seah (26th June 2011 of SundayTimes "Me and my money" column) and buy:

Believing that American properties were at a huge discount, Mr Seah bought a three-bedroom house in Rochester, New York, last November.
He visited San Antonio, Texas, in April and bought seven houses, paying cash. All are rented out.
Last year, he wrote a book, Winning The Money Game, to share his experience in creating passive income for his family. It has sold more than 1,000 copies. He expects to launch his second book, Gone Fishing With Buffett, soon.

What's there in Rochester (Kodak of the bygone era) and San Antonio (army barracks)? Severe cold and severe heat??

[millionairemind]

Would u follow Sean Seah (26th June 2011 of SundayTimes "Me and my money" column) and buy:

Believing that American properties were at a huge discount, Mr Seah bought a three-bedroom house in Rochester, New York, last November.
He visited San Antonio, Texas, in April and bought seven houses, paying cash. All are rented out.
Last year, he wrote a book, Winning The Money Game, to share his experience in creating passive income for his family. It has sold more than 1,000 copies. He expects to launch his second book, Gone Fishing With Buffett, soon.

What's there in Rochester (Kodak of the bygone era) and San Antonio (army barracks)? Severe cold and severe heat??

Not sure if I agree that it is at a HUGE discount.. the housing prices have just reverted to the mean... now the rent to price ratio is just right in the US.. whereas Singapore and Hong Kong are severely overvalued.

http://www.economist.com/node/18925999

[millionairemind]

hehe.. the only reason why I was paying so much attention to USDSGD exchange rate was because I have been very busy buying...

Not stocks but stuff from the US...

wow... i heard about buying stuff from US, maybe i should find out more from u what good bargains there are in US.

Check out Macys... I used to shop there when I was living in the US... they have partnered with 51 to offer local currency pricing and shipment... most things cost 1/2 the price than in Singapore.. Buy a few nice Timberland polos and a couple of nice hand bags for your wife and you got the shipment costs all taken care of (with one or two polos price difference)

http://www.macys.com/

[eauyong]

SIBOR Aug 11
(US$) // (S$)
1 mth 0.21267 // 0.26944
2 mths 0.24478 // 0.33056
3 mths 0.28678 // 0.39528
6 mths 0.45128 // 0.50208
9 mths 0.6125 // 0.60833
12 mths 0.77183 // 0.66944
SWAP - Offer rates (S$)
1 mth 0.72349
2 mths 0.61221
3 mths 0.6987
6 mths 0.99258
9 mths 0.16382
12 mths 0.1977

SWAP - Mid rates
1 yr -0.45438
2 yrs -0.08625
3 yrs 0.18719
4 yrs 0.501
5 yrs 0.83
7 yrs 1.35813

[eauyong]

Published August 12, 2011

Squeeze spells end to some home loans pegged to SOR

Unusual market conditions are forcing changes

By EMILYN YAP

(SINGAPORE) A number of mortgage brokers have received word from two banks to stop offering home loans pegged to Swap Offer Rates (SORs), BT has learnt. Another bank, too, has introduced a new clause into offer letters setting a floor for the SOR used in its home loans.

All these are taking place at a time when SORs for certain time periods have turned negative. The three-month SOR reached a new low yesterday, dropping to -0.6987 from -0.0119 on Wednesday. The six-month SOR also fell further to -0.99258 from -0.06622.

The SOR represents the synthetic cost of borrowing Singapore dollars, by borrowing US dollars for the same maturity and swapping these in return for Sing dollars.

Unusual market conditions have forced SORs into negative territory. Economists attributed this to fund inflows - investors have flocked to safe havens such as Singapore especially after the United States lost its triple-A rating. The expected appreciation of the Sing dollar against the greenback has also pushed SORs down, they said.

Negative SORs put banks which offer SOR-linked home loans in a difficult position. Banks typically set mortgage rates at a spread above the three-month SOR. The lower the SOR, the less they earn.

'I think the banks will shift away from SOR-plus mortgages given the increased volatility that's been seen,' said Bank of America Merrill Lynch economist Chua Hak Bin.

Some mortgage brokers told BT yesterday that they received notifications from DBS Group and Maybank to stop offering SOR packages from the banks, with immediate effect.

DBS did not confirm this, but a spokesman said: 'SOR-pegged loans are not part of our standard offerings. In view of their inherent volatility and the long-term nature of mortgage loans, such products are deemed unsuitable for retail customers who buy residential property for owner occupation.

'As such, they form a very small part of our portfolio and are usually offered upon customer's request. Our terms and conditions do allow the bank to introduce a minimum or floor rate for such benchmarks.'

The bank also said that its floating home loans are mainly tied to the Singapore Interbank Offered Rate (Sibor).

As for Maybank Singapore, its consumer banking head Helen Neo said: 'We currently do not offer SOR-pegged loans.'

Just a few months ago in April, Maybank had introduced a new package called the ceiling-rate home loan that is pegged to the three-month SOR.

The bank launched it together with another product called the hybrid-rate home loan, which is pegged to either the Sibor or a fixed rate in different years. Ms Neo said yesterday that the hybrid-rate home loan is now the bank's most popular one.

Some banks had moved earlier to withdraw SOR-pegged home loans from the market.

According to a United Overseas Bank spokesman, the bank stopped selling SOR-pegged packages with effect from Aug 1 and 'introduced Sibor-pegged packages to meet customers' demand for a less volatile reference rate'.

On the other side of the fence is Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ), which will continues to offer SOR-linked home loans. However, it added a new clause to offer letters issued from yesterday, setting a floor of 0.1 per cent for the SOR used. This is to 'ensure greater clarity on our pricing structure', said ANZ Singapore head of retail banking and wealth management Philip Lim.

ANZ's home loans are either pegged to the three-month SOR or a combined average of the three-month Sibor and SOR. The rates are based on those fixed on the first business day of the month, so the recent negative SORs have not affected home loan rates, Mr Lim said.

'We are currently comfortable to continue offering SOR-pegged home loan packages,' Mr Lim added.

[tonylim]

Weaken against majoy currencies lately, especailly yesterday.

[kennynah]

usd/sgd at 1.27 this moment..

hmmm... a very sharp weakening... maybe a good opportunity to sell