Temasek sold Barclays stake, lost 1 b
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Originally posted by Ah Chia:
He is now overseas, don't dare to show face in Singapore.
I think he needs to come out again with another public statement about these recent divestments to pacify the public.
But got to wait until he comes back to sg first.
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Opposition party would ruin Singapore: Lee Kuan Yew
SINGAPORE -- The Singapore opposition would ruin the wealthy city-state’s achievements in five years if they ever gained power, the country’s founding father Lee Kuan Yew
<!-- google_ad_client = "pub-7534774113194702"; google_ad_width = "300"; google_ad_height = "250"; google_ad_format = "300x250_as"; google_ad_type = "text"; //2007-07-08: 300x250_FullStory_Top google_ad_channel = "5439847224"; google_color_border = "FFFFFF"; google_color_bg = "FFFFFF"; google_color_link = "0000FF"; google_color_text = "000000"; google_color_url = "0000FF"; //--> window.google_render_ad(); Lee, 84, warned Singapore voters against putting the opposition at the helm of government “in a moment of fickleness or just sheer madness” when they get “bored” at some point in the future.Should this happen, “I think all bets are off because in five years they (opposition) can ruin this place,” he told delegates at an international forum late Wednesday.
He stressed that, unlike many other countries, Singapore did not have natural resources such as oil, gas, forests, timber and aluminum.
“When you are Singapore and your existence depends on performance — extraordinary performance, better than your competitors — but that performance disappears because the system on which it is based is eroded, then you’ve lost everything.”
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Originally posted by Ah Chia:
He is now overseas, don't dare to show face in Singapore.
Using public funds for private tours? You don't see other world leader making so many tours to other countries.
During all these discussion with foreign leaders. I wonder what was concluded? Or they merely shake hands, have dinners, tour the country and delight themselves by bootlicking each other.
Anything discussed and signed for all these visits?
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Originally posted by charlize:
I think those ah ma and ah peks who bought stocks these past few months made more money percentage wise than TH by buying low and selling high.
ah mas and ah peks very hardworking ok, earlier earlier morning at SGX looking at stocks liao, TH executives still sleeping. -
delight themselves by bootlicking each other.
Prasie each other until song song I think, suck each other's cock.
Brown: You Lee Kuan Yew is a wise man, has a lot of wisdom.
Lee: Your performance not bad in Britain. Very shrewd you.
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Originally posted by Ah Chia:
Opposition party would ruin Singapore: Lee Kuan Yew
SINGAPORE -- The Singapore opposition would ruin the wealthy city-state’s achievements in five years if they ever gained power, the country’s founding father Lee Kuan Yew
Lee, 84, warned Singapore voters against putting the opposition at the helm of government “in a moment of fickleness or just sheer madness” when they get “bored” at some point in the future.Should this happen, “I think all bets are off because in five years they (opposition) can ruin this place,” he told delegates at an international forum late Wednesday.
He stressed that, unlike many other countries, Singapore did not have natural resources such as oil, gas, forests, timber and aluminum.
“When you are Singapore and your existence depends on performance — extraordinary performance, better than your competitors — but that performance disappears because the system on which it is based is eroded, then you’ve lost everything.”
Singapore is already ruined in their hands, don't need opposition to ruin it. If the opposition wins the next election, it will be a winner's curse.
I am sure he has set up lots of booby traps and poison pills set up for the opposition.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winner's_curse
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poison_pill
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Originally posted by Ah Chia:
Prasie each other until song song I think, suck each other's cock.
Brown: You Lee Kuan Yew is a wise man, has a lot of wisdom.
Lee: Your performance not bad in Britain. Very shrewd you.
You see him visiting so many countries in a year.
What was concluded during all these meetings?
Self indulged bootlicking?
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You see him visiting so many countries in a year.
It is a sign that he is about to die. So last chance go visit.
His next meeting will be with God.
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Originally posted by Ah Chia:
It is a sign that he is about to die. So last chance go visit.
His next meeting will be with God.
Oh!!, he still can meet God, after all your solid cursing, i think he will meet the Devil first.Best Regards
666
Angel
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Originally posted by deepak.c:
Singapore is already ruined in their hands, don't need opposition to ruin it. If the opposition wins the next election, it will be a winner's curse.
I am sure he has set up lots of booby traps and poison pills set up for the opposition.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winner's_curse
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poison_pill
The old senile tyrant build and destroy. ha ha ha ha 
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Originally posted by Ah Chia:
Opposition party would ruin Singapore: Lee Kuan Yew
SINGAPORE -- The Singapore opposition would ruin the wealthy city-state’s achievements in five years if they ever gained power, the country’s founding father Lee Kuan Yew
Lee, 84, warned Singapore voters against putting the opposition at the helm of government “in a moment of fickleness or just sheer madness” when they get “bored” at some point in the future.Should this happen, “I think all bets are off because in five years they (opposition) can ruin this place,” he told delegates at an international forum late Wednesday.
He stressed that, unlike many other countries, Singapore did not have natural resources such as oil, gas, forests, timber and aluminum.
“When you are Singapore and your existence depends on performance — extraordinary performance, better than your competitors — but that performance disappears because the system on which it is based is eroded, then you’ve lost everything.”
He is using the scare tactic. He thinks everyone is retarded to take his words for real. -
Originally posted by Ah Chia:
It is a sign that he is about to die. So last chance go visit.
His next meeting will be with God.
You very sure is God he is meeting and not King of Hell? -
How I wish I had a billion dollars.
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Lee Kuan Yew the boaster: We are long term investors with horizons of maybe 30 years.
Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore's investment guru, chairman of GIC
You don't always make profits with all your investments. Knowing this, I have cut Temasek Holdings a lot of slack through the downturn. Even when they sold the Bank of America stake in the first quarter, but only revealed in May 2009, I held back from writing about the move that resulted in a realised loss of between US$2.3 to US$4.6 billion.
But now, we hear that last December and January, Temasek had also sold its Barclays Bank stake, for a loss of more than £500 million.
As Lady Bracknell said in Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest, "To lose one parent, Mr. Worthing, may be regarded as a misfortune. To lose both looks like carelessness."
To be fair, we should bear in mind that Temasek Holdings never intended to buy into Bank of America. It bought a 13.7 percent stake for US$5.1 billion in investment bank Merrill Lynch in late 2007, just when the financial crisis was starting. Within half a year, Merrill Lynch was going belly up and the US government leaned on Bank of America to take it over. That's how Temasek's stake in Merrill Lynch became a stake in BoA.
Almost immediately, BoA began to totter as the financial crisis deepened. Early this year, there was a real risk that the US government might have to nationalise it to protect the country's financial system. If that happened, Temasek's stake would be wiped out like all other investors'.
Temasek seemed to have decided to sell rather than see what unpredictable events might unfold, especially as they never had any interest in owning any part of Bank of America in the first place.
Defending the sell-off, Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam told Parliament last month: "The investment thesis had changed, from the original focus on Merrill's specific businesses to BoA's linkage to the broader U.S. economy." In addition, "Temasek also assessed the risk-return environment to have changed substantially."
Unfortunately for Temasek, BoA stock started looking up in April and May. This despite the US Treasury Department's stress tests showing that BoA would need US$34 billion more in Tier 1 capital to weather two years of severe economic circumstances. The bank set about converting preferred shares to common stock and made (or is planning to make) asset sales. By 2 June 2009, BoA announced that it was nearing its goal of raising US$34 billion.[1]
As you can see from the chart below, BoA's share price began recovering from mid March, after Temasek had mostly sold. There's egg on Ho Ching's face. Ho Ching is both the Chief Executive of Temasek Holdings and the wife of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
I would give Temasek Holdings the benefit of doubt over this. Hindsight is always 20/20, but in the first quarter, it was hard to know how things would pan out.
Also, it was reported in late May 2009, that Temasek Holdings bought additional shares in China Construction Bank, raising its stake from 6 percent to something like 6.5 percent. The latest purchase cost it US$600 million, according to Bloomberg.
China Construction Bank is the world's second-largest lender by market value, and the Chinese market will present greater growth opportunities than the US market. It may turn out to be a smart move to bail out of BoA, even at a loss, in order to buy into CCB.
But the Barclays' case is a head scratcher. Unlike the BoA stake, Temasek did buy directly into Barclays -- a 2 percent stake for £975 billion -- in 2007 at a time when the bank was raising capital to fund its bid (ultimately unsuccessful) for ABN Amro. A year later, in late 2008, the British financial system was in a meltdown almost as bad as the US', and three large lenders ended up in effect nationalised. Barclays refused to accept government money, and has managed to stay independent.
Like BoA's share price, that of Barclays' has since rebounded as the worst fears passed. Temasek however, sold at the bottom of the market, in December 2008 and January 2009, if reports are correct. Temasek itself has so far refused to confirm or deny the story.
As Singapore's Business Times reported,
On Jan 23, Barclays dropped to a low of 51.20 pence. Temasek had bought its 135 million Barclays shares in 2007 at £7.20 apiece. Barclays, HSBC and Standard Chartered are the three British banks which did not accept government money.
A source said that once Temasek decided to cut its losses, timing the sale was out of the question.
'It was sold over a period - you never know the highest or lowest,' the source said.
It's not clear if the £500-600 million hit on the investment includes foreign exchange losses.
When Temasek bought its 2 per cent stake in Barclays back in July 2007 for about £1 billion, £1 was worth S$3.08; yesterday, it was S$2.386.
-- Business Times, 4 June 2009, Temasek
sold Barclays stake and took a hit
To add to the embarrassment,
In contrast, the Abu Dhabi government-owned International Petroleum Investment Company (IPC) made a US$2.5 billion gain from selling on Tuesday its 11 per cent-plus stake in Barclays.
IPC had invested in Barclays last October when the bank did a private placement to avoid taking money from the UK government.
-- ibid
Aside from the nitty-gritty of financial transactions, what is worrying is how quickly assurances that "we are long term investors" are jettisoned. Barely a year ago, when UBS, in which the Government of Singapore Investment Corp has a stake, and Merrill Lynch were wobbling, Lee Kuan Yew told the media we are long term investors with horizons of maybe 30 years. We have staying power, he bragged, pooh-poohing rising concerns about declining valuations.
I personally didn't think he should have bragged thus. The fact is, even long-term investors do make quick exits if need be, and he should not have so blithely dismissed the prospect. It wasn't politically wise. However, many people would have taken him at his word. And that has made things worse.
The gap between the "no need to worry, it's only paper losses" rhetoric and billions in real losses is so wide, there is an urgent need for Temasek to explain itself. People will be asking if the sovereign wealth fund is incapable of reading market and economic trends, thinking something is a good long term investment, only to be caught by surprise within months, and then, despite boasts of staying power, promptly going to panic sell mode. This may or may not actually be the case, but to not a few Singaporeans, our losses must surely look this way: not misfortune, but carelessness. -
Let's move on.
These kinds of mistakes appear to be the norm now rather than the exception.
It's still bearable if other SWFs were losing billions of dollars just like TH. This could mean everybody was in the same boat and the situation was such that nobody could do anything about it.
But to read about the Norwegian and Abu Dhabi SWFs making a killing in the past few months really makes one wonder what is really happening with TH.
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But to read about the Norwegian and Abu Dhabi SWFs making a killing in the past few months really makes one wonder what is really happening with TH.
Maybe Lee Kuan Yew is not an investment guru but propaganda guru.
Good at selling propaganda filth to people.
During the Japanese occupation of Singapore he worked for a Japanese government propaganda department...
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Originally posted by Ah Chia:
Maybe Lee Kuan Yew is not an investment guru but propaganda guru.
Good at selling propaganda filth to people.
During the Japanese occupation of Singapore he worked for a Japanese government propaganda department...
While he worked with the Japanese Occupation Government in Singapore, there were other Singaporeans and Malayans - who fought against the Japanese Occupation Forces in Malaya, Singapore, Borneo and Indonesia.1944 – Lim Bo Seng : Hero of Force 136 who volunteered to fight in a guerilla war against the Japanese Occupation in Singapore and Malaya.
1910-2006 Elizabeth Choy : Singapore’s War Heroine, Politician and Teacher - risked her life giving food and medical aid to British prisoners of war.
1915-1942 Lt Adnan bin Saidi sacrificing his life in ‘Battle of Opium Hill at Pasir Panjang Ridge, Singapore.
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Singapore: Buy high, Sell low (Part II)
Saturday, 06 June 2009
Asia Sentinel
Bailing out on Barclay's with massive losses, Temasek forgets to tell Singapore's citizens about it
Singapore officials' sense of superiority has taken another beating. A behind-the-curve bunch of sheep with MBAs may now be the truer image. While the sovereign wealth fund of Abu Dhabi has cleaned up on its investment in Britain's Barclays Bank, Temasek Holdings, still headed until October by Ho Ching, wife of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, has bailed out at a loss estimated at around US$850 million.
The news didn't come out of Singapore, where embarrassments involving the first family get the minimum attention, but from analysts in London and New York studying the movement of major shareholders in Barclays. The citizens of Singapore were apparently not worthy of being told of how their money is being mismanaged.
Not content with buying into Barclays at a time when the banking sector was viewed as the way to easy riches, Temasek sold out close to the bottom of the market. The Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Investment Corp meanwhile bought in when Barclays was desperate and sold out just this week when the Barclays share price had recovered, netting a profit of £1.45 billion sterling (US$ 2.2 billion) in just seven months.
The Temasek debacle followed hard on the heels of massive losses on a Bank of America stake mostly acquired near the top of the market and sold close to the bottom. Temasek's loss is estimated at US$4.6 billion, or roughly US$1,000 for every Singaporean citizen. After the sale, presumably in March, the share price promptly rose by 66 percent.
Singapore Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam has claimed that despite recent losses Temasek has made gains averaging a respectable 15 respectable a year. However, this was during a sustained global bull market and also reflected the fact that some of its assets were state-owned companies whose shares had been transferred at non-market prices. These included power stations which have been sold off over the past two years, generating large gains which cannot be replicated.
Some aspects of Temasek are also so obscure that no proper analysis is possible. One black hole looks to be a leveraged investment in a series of private equity funds at the top of the market.
Having bought into financials near the top – making them 40% of its total portfolio -- and sold off near the bottom, it is now focusing on commodities, most recently buying a stake in locally listed agriculture company Olam international. It got a 13.76 percent stake at an 18 percent discount to the market, nonetheless it had already almost doubled in price this year thanks to a rebound in commodities which may or may not be sustained.
Not that it is completely neglecting financials. It is considering a stake in a consortium to buy AIG's asset management business. But potential partner in this is the high-profile Hong Kong businessman notorious for losing shareholders' money – Richard Lee of PCCW.
Nor can Temasek ignore the problems of Singapore state enterprises which must compete internationally. It has just had to inject equity to reduce the massive debt of money-losing ship-owner NOL. Meanwhile it is trying to offload loss-making manufacturer Chartered Semiconductor.
In short, Temasek's bad news is unlikely to be over. But don't expect to hear about it first in the local media.
http://asiasentinel.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1919&Itemid=233 -
the way temasek invests appears to be rather amatuerish. rushing in to buy when price just drops and panic selling when price keeps sliding. seasoned investors would have waited for price to drop farther before buying and price to rebound before selling. atobe, could i have the source of the article by jeremy koh and eugene yeo dated 5 jun 2009?
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Originally posted by lotus999:
the way temasek invests appears to be rather amatuerish. rushing in to buy when price just drops and panic selling when price keeps sliding. seasoned investors would have waited for price to drop farther before buying and price to rebound before selling.
atobe, could i have the source of the article by jeremy koh and eugene yeo dated 5 jun 2009?
You are right.
All their mistakes were classic amateur investment mistakes.
It's like a rookie investor who doesn't really know what is going on and just buying and selling stock based on emotions and without a well thought out plan.
You compare that to the average ah ma ah soh investor you meet in the kopitiams these days- it seems they know more about the stock market than the "professionals" .
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Originally posted by charlize:
You compare that to the average ah ma ah soh investor you meet in the kopitiams these days- it seems they know more about the stock market than the "professionals" .
These aunties type of stock "professionals" are classic, and now they are SWF.
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I used this as an example to my students why they should learn statistics
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You compare that to the average ah ma ah soh investor you meet in the kopitiams these days- it seems they know more about the stock market than the "professionals" .
Reminds me of an ah pek I know who works as a security guard.
Always talking about stocks and his investments.
I was quite impressed by his detailed knowledge.
Goes to show that you can't underestimate ah sohs and ah peks.
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If im the Government
i would shut down temasek holdings
and give back the money to the citizen.