Well, what do you think of the latest news? The latest published data now shows that the number of private homes that could be completed by end-2011 may be less than previously thought - meaning that the residential rental and capital values could hold better than expected.

Urban Redevelopment Authority’s (URA) latest Q2 figures, based on quarterly surveys of developers, showed that 46,480 private homes are expected to be completed between Q3 2008 and end-2011. This figure is 18 per cent - or 10,021 units - lower than the figure of 56,501 units slated for completion between Q2 2008 and 2011 listed in URA’s Q1 data.

Of these, 2,587 units were completed in the second quarter and have hence been removed from the supply pipeline, URA explained. Other completions have been put on hold as some developments have been postponed - as seen in the case of some en bloc sale sites. Rising construction costs and cautious market sentiment have delayed the construction of other projects.

URA highlighted that the total supply of new private homes in the pipeline stood at 67,569 units as at end-Q2 2008 - about the same as 67,736 units at end-Q1. However, more of these units may now see completion after 2011.

Some industry players welcomed the latest figures, which will hopefully clear up some of the question marks about home completions.

Knight Frank managing director Tan Tiong Cheng said: ‘Rents should hold better and capital values should also hold slightly better. Basically the window widens for those who’ve bought homes earlier on deferred payment schemes to clear their purchases if their units are in projects whose completions are being delayed. In short, there should be less panic selling.’

Typically, deferred payment schemes - scrapped since last October - expire when a project is completed, which is when buyers have to pay the bulk of their purchase price to developers. As a result, ’specuvestors’ tend to offload their units in projects before they are completed.

However, Mr Tan also pointed to a potential downside for developers whose projects are in the immediate vicinities of condos sold earlier. ‘As a developer, I face competition for sellers from those specuvestors who’ve bought in nearby projects for a longer period now if the project completions are delayed.’

URA’s price index for non-landed private homes in Core Central Region (CCR) dipped 0.1 per cent in Q2 over the preceding quarter - for the first time since Q1 2004, the earliest period for which such data is available.

The Q2 decline in CCR - which includes the prime districts 9, 10 and 11, the financial district and Sentosa Cove - came on the back of a 0.5 per cent drop in the price index for uncompleted homes in the region; the index for completed homes rose 0.3 per cent.

Non-landed home price index (overall, covering both completed and uncompleted units) rose 0.7 per cent in Q2 for Rest of Central Region and by 0.9 per cent in Outside Central Region.

URA’s headline islandwide price index for private homes (landed and non-landed) inched up 0.2 per cent quarter on quarter in Q2 - weaker than the 0.4 per cent flash estimate rise announced earlier this month. The index has risen 3.9 per cent in the first half from the end-2007 level - after escalating 31.2 per cent for the whole of 2007.

Looking ahead, CB Richard Ellis executive director Li Hiaw Ho said: ‘Correction of residential prices, to the tune of 5 to 10 per cent in H2 2008, will be inevitable but is likely to vary according to location, product type and target market’, citing the continued toll of the sub-prime mortgage meltdown on the global economy and high inflation.

Developers sold a total 1,525 private homes in Q2, double the Q1 volume. But overall in H1 2008, they have sold only 2,287 units, which is around just one quarter of the 9,912 units developers sold in the same period last year.

The total number of subsale transactions - often seen as a proxy for speculative activity - rose 10.6 per cent quarter on quarter to 440. Leading the pack was the Outside Central Region (OCR), where subsale volume jumped 39 per cent to 154 units. Subsales in Q2 made up 8.1 per cent of private home deals in the region, which includes mass-market locations, up from 6.7 per cent in Q1.

URA said that examples of projects that saw significant subsales in OCR in Q2 include The Centris in Jurong (15 units) and The Raintree near Bukit Timah Nature Reserve (16 units). Analysts say that The Calrose in Yio Chu Kang and Varsity Park Condo also saw at least 10 subsales each in Q2.

Some of these projects have either received Temporary Occupation Permit or will be getting it soon; investors tend to sell off units shortly before or after a project gets TOP as buyers are willing to pay a slightly higher price then, because units can be immediately rented, analysts noted.

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Prices for public housing on the resale market have risen, while those for private property have moderated for the second quarter of 2008.

According to latest official figures, there has also been little upward movement in the private property rental market.

Data for the HDB resale and rental markets based on transactions in Q2 saw HDB’s Resale Price Index (RPI) up 4.5 per cent, compared to the 3.7 per cent increase for the previous quarter.

Reflective of the interest in public housing was the rise in resale transactions, from about 6,360 cases in the first quarter to about 7,760 cases in the second quarter, an increase by about 22 per cent.

Meanwhile, subletting transactions in HDB flats increased by about 15 per cent to about 4,120 cases in the second quarter from about 3,580 cases in the first quarter.

In contrast, the private property market was a little more subdued, with home prices increasing 0.2 per cent, the third straight quarter of slower growth, signalling a definite slowing of the four-year housing boom.

Prices for non-landed properties saw a modest 0.1 per cent rise compared with 3.7 per cent in the previous quarter as prices for condominium and apartments in districts 9, 10, 11, downtown district and Sentosa fell 0.1 per cent compared to similar properties in areas outside of the region which rose between 0.7 and 0.9 per cent.

As for landed property, prices rose 0.6 per cent compared with 3.9 per cent in the previous quarter.

Indicative of the cooling in the property market are the 43,473 new units still unsold from a total supply of 67,569 uncompleted units from private housing projects.

This number includes more than 12,000 which developers have held back from launch and another 28,282 which are pending approval.

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Stocks rose on Friday as a prolonged drop in oil prices, and stronger-than-expected data on consumer sentiment and housing dented the latest concerns about the health of US banks.

Another drop in oil prices, adding to a sharp sell-off over the last two weeks on signs of weakening demand, was particularly welcomed by investors in airlines and industrials.

Oil dropped US$2 to a fresh seven-week low on Friday, extending a decline that has knocked more than US$24 off crude in two weeks as high fuel prices continue to batter demand.

US crude fell US$2.23 to settle at US$123.26 after falling to US$122.50 earlier, the lowest since June 5. Brent crude lost US$1.92 to settle at US$124.52 a barrel.

Fuel consumption in the United States and other industrialised nations has begun to slide, dragging oil down from record peaks over US$147 a barrel on July 11.

Investors flocked into commodities earlier this year as a hedge against inflation and the weak dollar, but analysts say they have begun to unwind those positions over the past two weeks.

‘The rise in US durable goods orders pushed the dollar up and the Petrologistics estimate of Opec output rising - both helped pull down crude futures,’ said Phil Flynn, analyst for Alaron Trading in Chicago.

Rising demand in emerging economies like China launched oil on a six-year rally that sent prices up sevenfold at their peak. The sharp drop has some analysts forecasting oil prices may have peaked, with Lehman Brothers predicting US$90 a barrel by the end of the first quarter of 2009.

Excellent! I have always thought that the price of oil will stabilise at around US$80 levels.

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Even in the quiet investment sales market, two small office blocks have been sold - in High Street and Middle Road - for a total of about $40 million or $1,300-plus per sq ft of existing net lettable area (NLA). Both buildings have 999-year leaseshold tenure.

A Hong Kong investor is believed to have bought Wisma Sugnomal at 75 High Street for $23.5 million or $1,349 psf based on existing NLA of 17,414 sq ft.

The seven-storey office block, which has shops at street level, is about 12 years old.

The existing gross floor area of about 25,500 sq ft is slightly higher than the maximum allowed for the site under the Master Plan.

Fragrance group has bought 33 Middle Road, which is next to a Hotel 81, for $16.8 million or $1,324 psf of existing NLA in the five-storey building.

Based on building’s existing gross floor area of almost 17,000 sq ft, the property could house about 50 budget hotel rooms, industry observers suggested. Colliers International is believed to have brokered both deals.

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My daughter is an electrical officer on a carrier. Recently
I asked her what her duties were. She answered, “To fix
electrical problems.”

When I asked what was considered an electrical problem
on a carrier, she replied, “Anything you can’t fix with a
hammer.”

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To think too long about doing a thing often becomes its undoing.

Eva Young

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The year is 2222 and Mike and Maureen land on Mars after accumulating enough
Frequent Flier miles.

They meet a Martian couple and are talking about all sorts of things. Mike
asks if Mars has a stock market, if they have laptop computers, how they
make money, etc.

Finally, Maureen brings up the subject of sex.

“Just how do you guys do it?” asks Maureen.

The Martian responds, “Pretty much the way you do.”

A discussion ensues and finally the couples decide to swap partners for the
night and experience one another.. Maureen and the male Martian go off to a
bedroom where the Martian strips. He’s got only a teeny, weenie member about
half an inch long and just a quarter-inch thick.

“I don’t think this is going to work,” says Maureen.

“Why?” he asks. “What’s the matter?”

“Well,” she replies, “it’s just not long enough to reach me!”

“No problem,” he says, and proceeds to slap his forehead with his palm. With
each slap of his forehead, his member grows until it’s quite impressively
long.

“Well,” she says, “that’s quite impressive, but it is still narrow.”

“No problem,” he says, and starts pulling his ears. With each pull, his
member grows wider and wider until the entire measurement is extremely
exciting to the woman.

“Wow!” she exclaims, as they fell into bed and made mad passionate love.

The next day the couples rejoin their other partners and go their separate
ways. As they walked along, Mike asks, “Well, was it any good?”

“I hate to say it,” says Maureen, “but it was wonderful. How about you?”

“It was horrible,” he replies. “All I got was a headache . She kept slapping
my forehead and pulling my ears.”

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Temasek Holdings has sold off half its ill-timed investment in Merrill Lynch - or about 87m shares, according to a mutual funds report on institutional trades on US stocks.

The online report, MFFAIRS (Mutual Fund Facts About Individual Stocks), reported it sold off 86,949,594 shares (50%), leaving a current holdings of 86,949,594 shares (50%), according to the filings made public.

However…. a source briefed on the situation said since March 31 Temasek had not reduced its shareholding in Merrill, denying a market rumour that it has sold shares in the U.S. bank. Temasek invested $5 billion in Merrill Lynch in December and February at $48 a share, at a time when sovereign funds from Asia and the Middle East were propping up global banks reeling from subprime-related credit losses. Merrill shares, which closed at $29.04 on Thursday, are 40 percent below Temasek’s purchase price..

Still it is Ouch! Ouch! and double ouch!

http://www.mffais.com/newsarticles/2008-07-22/2473637-211738.html

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A Jew, a Hindu, and a lawyer were traveling from Chicago to Los
Angeles when their car broke down late one night in Kansas. They
walked to the nearest farm house and explained their situation to the
farmer who answered the door.

“Ya’ll be welcome to spend the night here if you want”, the farmer
said. “The only problem is I only have room for two. One of you will
have to sleep in the barn.”

“I will,” exclaimed the Jew, and with that the men went to retire. A
short time later came a knock at the door. It was the Jew.

“I’m sorry”, the Jew said, “but I can’t sleep in the barn. There’s a
pig in there, and my religion forbids me to sleep in the same room as a pig.”

“Then I will go sleep in the barn” exclaimed the Hindu, and once more
the men went to retire. Soon there came another knock at the door. It
was the Hindu.

“I am very sorry”, the Hindu said, “but I cannot sleep in the barn
either. There is a cow in there, and my religion forbids me to sleep
in the same room as a cow.”

“Oh, for gosh sakes!”, the lawyer cried. I’ll go sleep in the damn
barn!” and once again the men went to retire.

A few minutes later there came yet another knock at the door.

It was the cow and the pig…

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After 20 years of marriage, a couple was lying in bed one evening, when the
woman felt her husband begin to fondle her in ways he hadn’t in quite some
time. It almost tickled as his fingers started at her neck, and then began
moving down past the small of her back. He then caressed her shoulders and
neck, slowly worked his hand down over her breasts, stopping just over her
lower stomach.

He then proceeded to place his hand on her left inner arm, caressed past the
side of her breast again, working down her side, passed gently over her
buttock and down her leg to her calf. Then, he proceeded up her inner thigh,
stopping just at the uppermost portion of her leg. He continued in the same
manner on her right side, then suddenly stopped, rolled over and became
silent. As she had become quite aroused by this caressing, she asked in a
loving voice, “Honey that was wonderful. Why did you stop?” “I found the
remote,” he mumbled.

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