Bros,....

Let's talk about this now.....

My Investment Objectives would be for Income, and then for Capital Appreciation at the side.

To get a 'feel' of these counters, at present Stanchart Singapore offers quite good brokerages for investing into the Australian Securities Exchange, the ASX !

If you have AUD notes in-hand, you can open a Multi Currency Account (MCA) with DBS Singapore, and then bank-in your notes into the AUD Wallet of your MCA. No extra charge to bank-in Aussie notes,....

Then, if you wished to buy Aus counters with these notes, you can open a brokerage account with DBS Vickers, and buy using your Aussie Dollars banked-in earlier.

Otherwise, you can TT over your AUDs in the normal way,...

There will also be local brokerage accounts which you can use to buy Aus counters. Perhaps forummers like AVFAN, Showtime, Prince and others can guide us more on this,...

Australia’s Economy Shrinks Most in Eight Years; Currency Slumps

by
Michael Heath


December 6, 2016 — 7:40 PM EST Updated on December 6, 2016 — 11:55 PM EST

➞
Economy suffers only fourth quarterly slump in past 25 years

➞
Most observers see growth rebound from rising resource exports

While Australia’s economy shrunk last quarter, it’s probably more of a red flag than a precursor to recession.

One of only four quarterly contractions in the past 25 years, the so-called ‘lucky country’ is unlikely to suffer a second consecutive slump -- just as in those prior periods. But it’s a wake-up call for lawmakers that recent political timidity and gridlock is unsustainable, as is reliance on monetary policy to support growth with a 1.5 percent interest rate that may not even fall further.

A growing chorus of high-profile economists and international institutions are calling on Australia to follow U.K. and U.S. plans to use infrastructure stimulus, particularly with global borrowing costs so low. But the government has made clear its priority is returning the budget to balance as it seeks to protect a prized AAA credit rating.


Wednesday’s report showed:
•Gross domestic product fell 0.5% from previous quarter, when it gained a revised 0.6%
•Decline was driven by slump in construction and government spending
•Result was worst since depths of global financial crisis at the end of 2008 and well below economists’ estimates of a 0.1% drop
•The economy grew 1.8% from a year earlier, compared with a forecast 2.2% gain
•Australian dollar fell almost half a U.S. cent on the data



Annette Beacher, head of Asia-Pacific research at TD Securities Ltd. in Singapore, summed up the general consensus among economists to the contraction.

“We’re still confident that this is just a perfect storm of negatives and we shouldn’t be talking about technical recessions -- we should be talking about what rebound we can expect for the fourth quarter,” she said. “It just seemed like an unexpected confluence of negatives that all happened to be concentrated in one quarter.”

But while growth will probably resume given resource export volumes have further to rise, this requires little labor. Meanwhile, a residential building boom that’s employed many ex-miners is forecast by some economists to peak next year, removing a driver of growth and employment. Balancing that is an unwinding of mining investment, which is forecast to soon stop acting as a drag on growth.




What the economy urgently needs is business investment outside mining, which has failed to emerge despite the best efforts of the Reserve Bank of Australia to talk up the economy and via rate cuts. While the government is betting a proposed cut in corporate tax will encourage firms to spend and hire, opposition parties are blocking the passage of the legislation. Outside of this, there’s little on Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s agenda.

One region where business investment has been strong is New South Wales, running at 10 percent per annum for the past three years. Coincidentally, that’s the only Australian state undertaking meaningful infrastructure investment.

“Effective public investments can boost GDP over the long term by creating demand, boosting business confidence, lifting growth and ultimately reducing, not increasing, the debt-to-GDP ratio over time,” said Andrew Charlton, director of consultancy AlphaBeta in Sydney. “Australia needs a short term plan to increase spending on infrastructure and other productive public assets, especially while interest rates are so low, and a medium term plan to reign in recurrent spending over time.”

His views echo those put forward by the International Monetary Fund and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

Other Details

Wednesday’s GDP report showed that government spending and resource exports failed to lift growth as they did in the previous two quarters. The slowdown from an annual 3.1 percent rate in the second quarter was dramatic, particularly when the Treasury estimates the economy’s potential at 2.75 percent and central bank forecasts match or exceed that level.
The data also showed:
•Private investment in new buildings cut 0.3 percentage point from GDP
•New engineering and new and used dwellings shaved 0.2 and 0.1 percentage points respectively
•The household savings ratio fell to 6.3% from a revised 6.7%, which helped support household spending
•The terms of trade, a gauge of export prices relative to import prices, jumped 4.5%
•Household spending rose 0.4% and added 0.3 point

This would be a good time to slowly go in again,....low bank interest rates, low economic results,... hence low asset prices. The signs are there,....

which sectors are you going in ? Financial / Industrial / Reits / Materials / Energy / Info Tech etc.

I will be using the Std Ctd ASX settlement acc to trade glad I updated at bank few days ago.

any page you can recommend for newbies like me ?

http://www.marketindex.com.au/analysis/div...5-december-2016

http://www.marketindex.com.au/how-to-buy-shares



This post has been edited by prince_mk: Dec 7 2016, 09:42 PM

I'm researching the A-REITs now,...

Taxation : At tax-time you must calculate the tax payable from your share trading by tallying up your profits, losses and dividends. An added benefit of owning shares as an individual is that when you hold a share for more than a year then you only pay Capital Gains Tax (CGT) on 50% of your profit.

RPT-UPDATE 1-New Zealand/Australia Morning Call-Global markets
 
08 12 2016 08:10am AEDT

SYDNEY - Australian shares are seen extending gains at Thursday's open, following Wall St higher despite yesterday's news that Australia's economy unexpectedly contracted.
Local share market futures added 0.9 percent overnight to 5,530 points. That is a 51.9-point premium to the underlying S&P/ASX 200 index <.AXJO>. The benchmark rose 0.9 percent on Wednesday.
- - - -

OIL
NEW YORK - Oil prices slid on Wednesday on bearish U.S. petroleum inventory data and doubts that production cuts promised by OPEC and Russia would be deep enough to end a supply overhang that has weighed on markets for more than two years.
Brent futures fell 93 cents, or 1.7 percent, to settle at $53.00 a barrel, while U.S. crude lost $1.16, or 2.3 percent, to settle at $49.77.

Then dont keep more than 1 yr ? If more than 1 yr, 50% on profit? How then ? Applicable for Malaysian ?

This post has been edited by prince_mk: Dec 8 2016, 07:47 AM

No bro,.. if you keep more than one year, the taxable component is ONLY 50% of your profit earned. If you keep less than one year, the taxable component is 100% of your profit earned.

1 Jan 2016 bought 1000 units at $1, paid $1000

1 Feb 2017 sold 1000 units at $2, gross amount $2000

Profit = $1000

Tax = 50% x $1000 = $500 ??

This post has been edited by prince_mk: Dec 8 2016, 09:34 AM

$500 is the Taxable Amount. This Taxable Amount will be added into the other taxable amts generated from employment, other incomes, etc, and then to calculate from there,...... the tax bracket that an individual falls into.

Oic. We are Msian. Does this impact us ? Or this only impact the Aussies citizen only ?

Aussie tax residents, bro,...

A_REITS !


https://www.nabtrade.com.au/content/dam/nab...20watch%201.jpg

Opportunity is emerging in yield stocks as the market stampede towards cyclical growth companies tramples valuations in interest-rate-sensitive sectors.
Investors could not get enough of the big mining stocks and other cyclicals after Donald Trump’s surprise win in the United States election sparked hopes of a stronger US economy and higher commodity demand. It unleashed the bulls.
The flipside was firming expectations for US interest-rate increases and a higher US dollar. The market has baked in a US rate hike in December and expects further increases in 2017. That’s bad for the so-called “bond proxies”, such as infrastructure stocks and listed property.
Sector rotation from overvalued defensive yield stocks to undervalued cyclical growth stocks was well overdue. I went cold on pricey infrastructure stocks, such as Sydney Airport and Transurban Group, in July, just before their price pullbacks.
But I underestimated the strength of commodity prices and gains in BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals Group. As I outlined in November, the resource sector had rallied too far, too fast, and was being driven more by sentiment than fundamentals.
This rapid portfolio tilt has pushed several mining stocks to 52-week highs, and key infrastructure stocks and listed property trusts to near 52-week lows – a trend that should put yield stocks back on the radar of value investors.
Yes, rising bond yields are bad for interest-rate-sensitive stocks. They make equity yields look less attractive and hurt companies with higher debt. But the market has quickly priced in expectations of higher bond yields in equity valuations – and then some.
Commentators are warning against buying the big defensive yield stocks. They might be right in the next few months as momentum towards growth stocks lingers. Blanket views, however, overlook improving valuations in yield stocks for long-term investors.
Consider the Australian Real Estate Investment Trust (A-REIT) sector. It leapt in the first half of 2016 as bond yields fell and investors sought defensive sectors. The S&P ASX 200 A-REIT index rallied almost 20% in the first half of 2016, in a flat market.
Then it tumbled by almost as much from July as prices became overvalued, the 10-year bond yield rose and the August profit-reporting season for A-REITs disappointed. At its peak, the A-REIT sector traded 29% above its Net Tangible Assets (NTA) in July on Macquarie Group numbers – a valuation premium that was unsustainable.
The A-REIT index has given back most of its gains in 2016. This index is up 5.9% this calendar year (on a total-return basis, including distributions). That compares with a 7.1% return for the S&P/ASX 200 index.
This is a rare period of underperformance for the A-REIT sector against the broader share market over the past three years. The ASX 200 A-REIT index’s annualised total return of 15% compares with a 5.3% return for the ASX 200.
That does not mean the A-REIT sector is undervalued or that investors should load up portfolios with listed property trusts. The sector is still trading around 7% above NTA on Macquarie numbers (although care is needed with aggregate NTAs because of the high weighting of Westfield Group and other large A-REITs in the index).
That suggests value is improving in select A-REITs.

Added date and time of publishing : Wed 07 December 2016 12:00 PM

This post has been edited by Hansel: Dec 9 2016, 10:11 AM

Ascendas REIT reallocates assets to Australia

It divested assets in China while expanding presence down under.

Ascendas real estate investment trust is making a strategic move in divesting its assets to China and increasing its exposure in Australia.

According to RHB, Ascendas divested all its three industrial properties in China.

"The properties were divested well above book value and is positive amid current challenges, especially in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities, in China’s industrial property segment," RHB said.

On the other hand, it has decided to increase its presence in Australia's industrial property market, from which 13% of its portfolio is located.

"We think this is a good opportunistic move by the REIT as Australian assets provides stability, with their triple net lease structure and a built-in annual rental escalation of 3-4% pa. The high cap rates (~7%) of Australian industrial properties also allows it favourable yield accretive acquisitions in future," the brokerage firm noted.

- See more at: http://sbr.com.sg/commercial-property/news...h.bIc2JlOs.dpuf

http://sbr.com.sg/commercial-property/news...ssets-australia

so, now Ascendas reits will be in my radar...

Yeah,... but even better if we can dip our fingers directly into Australian assets ourselves,...

Need not remain behind these proxy SG REIT managers,....

Edited to make my points clearer.

This post has been edited by Hansel: Dec 14 2016, 01:13 PM