SG Wealth Builder

It’s time for Royal Rumble! On 16 September 2026, the US Federal Reserve raised interest rates for the first time in three years. The move was significant as it could set the pace for further interest rate hikes in 2026 as the US battles persistent inflation caused by ongoing geopolitical tensions in the Middle East. Naturally, local investors are asking: What will be the impact on UOB share (SGX: U11)?

Most Singaporean investors who buy UOB shares (SGX: U11) also hold shares in DBS Group Holdings (SGX: D05) or OCBC Bank (SGX: O39). Personally, I have only invested in DBS and OCBC. Among our local banking trio, UOB stands out as the only bank that remains family-owned and family-managed.

The Wee family maintains a tight grip on UOB through investment vehicles like Wee Investments, alongside listed entities. Haw Par holds an 8% stake while UOL holds about 4% in UOB. In turn, UOB holds strategic stakes in both listed companies. Because UOB is family-owned and family-managed, the Wee family tends to adopt a conservative approach toward the bank’s balance sheet and capital management.

UOB also remains the only bank that sells physical gold. During the sharp run in gold prices that lasted from late 2025 to early 2026, UOB’s gold business must have been robust.

CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust (CICT) continues to dominate the S-REITs circle. The latest 1H 2026 financial report from CICT (SGX: C38U) proves exactly why this STI blue-chip is in a class of its own. While foreign-focused logistics (e.g. Mapletree Logistics Trust) and commercial REITs (e.g. Keppel REIT) remain in a state of perpetual drunken stupor, CICT delivered a swashbuckling 7.1% year-on-year surge in Distribution Per Unit (DPU) to 6.02 cents.

For background, CICT (SGX: C38U) is the first and largest real estate investment trust (REIT) listed on SGX with a market capitalisation of $18.9 billion as at 30 June 2026. It debuted as CapitaLand Mall Trust in July 2002 and was renamed CICT in November 2020 following the merger with CapitaLand Commercial Trust. CICT’s portfolio comprises 21 properties in Singapore, two properties in Frankfurt, Germany, and three properties in Sydney, Australia. The portfolio property value amounts to $30.9 billion.

What is surprising to me is that the latest DPU growth was achieved despite an enlarged unit base following the April 2026’s mega private placement, which raised $750 million to fund the acquisition of Paragon. Despite the enlarged unit base, CICT unit price did not bomb out as many had expected. Instead, the counter continued to trade at a premium to its Net Asset Value (NAV) of $2.15.

On 4 September 2026, DBS shares (SGX: D05) made history as it crossed the magical $79.00. The explosive form of DBS shares pushed its market capitalization beyond $220 billion, consolidating its position as the biggest listed company in SGX. For perspective, DBS alone makes up the single largest weight in the Straits Times Index (STI).

The enthralling form of DBS shares (SGX: D05) made me invest in the banking giant on 19 July 2026. Frankly speaking, I have never seen any blue chips like this in my 25 years of investing experience. Most blue chips in SGX usually rise steadily and then plateau. Very rarely do you see big cap stocks surging within weeks and months like DBS shares (SGX: D05). This current rally started from December 2023 when the counter was trading at around $28 and it doesn’t seem like fizzling out any time soon based on its latest form.

Previously, I talked up the possibility of DBS shares (SGX: D05) hitting the target price of $80. At the point of writing, it seems that DBS is destined to hit that milestone in a matter of days. Question now is what would be the next mountain to climb – $100 or $120?

The last time I covered ComfortDelGro (CDG) share price was in September 2023 when the counter was trading at $1.27. Fast forward to today, the stock is hovering at virtually the same level. Yet, behind this stagnation lies a period of roller-coaster volatility.

Following a request from an SG Wealth Builder member for my insights, the timing couldn’t be better for this article. This year marks the 3-year anniversary of Cheng Siak Kian taking the helm as Group CEO. As a general rule of thumb, I typically give new CEOs a three-year grace period before assessing their track record. So let’s see whether CEO Cheng has delivered the goods.

For most Singaporeans, ComfortDelgro needs no introduction. But from an investment perspective, it is crucial to recognize that CDG is far more than a simple taxi operator. It is a diversified land transport conglomerate with an extensive fleet spanning public buses, taxis, and private-hire rental vehicles. Its footprint is anchored by two major SGX-listed subsidiaries: public transport operator SBS Transit (SGX: S61) and vehicle inspection provider Vicom (SGX: V01). Over the past decade, CDG has aggressively expanded its overseas operations, building an international portfolio across the UK, Australia, China, and Europe to reduce its reliance on the domestic market.

Can CEO Jean Kam really lead Mapletree Logistics Trust out of dark Egypt? Year-to-date, Mapletree Logistics Trust (MLT) shares have tumbled 11%. What makes this sell-off particularly painful for unitholders is that the counter continued its downward drift even after delivering a stabilized 1Q FY26/27 DPU of 1.816 cents.

Brushing off the falling Mapletree Logistics Trust shares is risky though your primary goal as an income investor is simply to collect dividends. Even for dividend investors, capital preservation matters. A 6% annual dividend yield means very little if the underlying capital value drops 12% over the same period of time.

MLT share price fighting fire

Nightmare of Mapletree Logistics Trust (MLT)

Mapletree Logistics Trust share price in confidence crisis

What is alarming for investors is that being one of the major STI components, the S-REIT’s market capitalization has been severely impacted by the falling Mapletree Logistics Trust shares. From $8.8 billion in FY21/22, the market capitalization has collapsed to a low of $5.8 billion in FY25/26.

The crisis of confidence surrounding MLT is entirely understandable. Prior to the latest quarterly financial result, the S-REIT logged an outrageous stretch of year-on-year quarterly DPU declines across FY24/25 and FY25/26. Considering MLT’s absolute peak DPU was 2.271 cents back in 1Q FY23/24, the multi-year erosion in distributions has severely tested unitholder patience and shaken faith in management.

Could this be another SGX fairy-tale in the making, resembling the supersonic rallies of AEM Holdings and iFAST Corporation? Within a year, iX Biopharma share price had rocketed by an eye-popping 2,400%, surging from $0.020 to a high of $0.52.  In light of the explosive form of iX Biopharma share price, an SG Wealth Builder member has requested for my insights.

By way of background, iX Biopharma Ltd is a specialty pharmaceutical and nutraceutical company focused on drug development and manufacturing. The company’s core technology lies in its flagship, patent-protected WaferiX® sublingual drug-delivery platform. This base platform patent holds significant strategic value, enabling iX Biopharma to secure numerous product-specific patents—including Wafermine®, Wafesil®, and the MeltMed Series.

To be frank, I think few investors would have paid attention to iX Biopharma prior to the historic rally. And for good reasons too. Listed in Catalist only in 2015, iX Biopharma had never been profitable and had been racking in multi-million losses year in and out. Given such scary financial track record, it is not surprising that IX Biopharma is under the radar of most Singapore investors. Most retail investors would typically shun loss-making penny stocks following the 2013 Singapore penny stock crash.

In late 2025, I was seriously contemplating investing in Keppel REIT. That was before Keppel REIT share price blew up in pieces. More than half a year later, I still broke out in cold sweat after dodging the deadly bullet.

Investors of Keppel REIT must be feeling angry with Keppel. After Keppel REIT share price charged up to a 2-year of $1.10 in November 2025, the Manager dropped the bombshell of exercising its pre-emptive rights to acquire the remaining one-third stake in Marina Bay Financial Centre (MBFC) Tower 3 from Hongkong Land for a whopping S$1.45 billion. While that mega deal did bomb out Keppel REIT share price, Keppel compounded matters further.

To support the acquisition, Keppel REIT has launched a mega Equity Fund Raising (EFR) of $886.3 million, leading to 923 million of new units flooding the market. To make matters worse, this mega EFR came right after the $113 million Private Placement in October 2025 to help fund a 75% stake in Top Ryde City Shopping Centre in Sydney. The two EFRs within a short span of time led to huge number of new units being issued, effectively diluting Keppel REIT share price.

Instead of letting the market digest the massive flood of new units, Keppel annoyed investors of Keppel REIT by issuing dividend in specie of Keppel REIT units (yet again) on 7 May 2026.

On 13 July 2026, DBS made history by becoming the first ever SGX-listed company to cross the historic $200 billion market capitalization milestone. This incredible feat caps off an explosive run for the local banking giant. Year-to-date, DBS Group share price has surged an impressive 28%, riding on its stellar momentum to smash a fresh record high of $73 on 15 July 2026.

Conventional market wisdom dictates that what goes up must eventually come down. Most cyclical stocks are ultimately bound by this fundamental law of gravity. Obviously, DBS Group share price is no exception. Yet, the relentless rally of this banking heavyweight has completely confounded the market. I believe many analysts are left scratching their heads and debating a critical question: has the counter truly seen its best days, or is this simply the calm before a looming storm?

The intriguing narrative has led me to invest in 1000 shares of DBS lately. In this article, I will share my thought process for investing in DBS. I need to clarify that this is not inducement for readers to buy DBS shares. Note that this is an opinion article and not meant to be a financial advice. Please do your due diligence or engage financial advisors before investing in the stock market.

Make Singtel share price great again! That could very well be the ultimate mission of CEO Yuen Kuan Moon.

A decade ago, Singtel dominated SGX and was the undisputed heavyweight champion of the local stock market. This was until DBS, led by the charismatic Piyush Gupta, pulled off its historic digital transformation and ruthlessly snatched the crown of SGX’s most valuable company. For years after that dethroning, Singtel share price languished in the doldrums.

Fast forward to early 2026, the telco suddenly woke up from its slumber. The stars appeared to be aligned as Singtel share price smashed to a record high of S$5.20 on 20 March 2026. Driven by an absolute frenzy for artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, Singtel’s share price began showing dazzling glimpses of its former, swashbuckling self. Long-time suffering investors must have felt very surreal by the sudden revival of Singtel share price.

But in the investing world, Man proposes, God disposes.

Following those giddy heights, the music stopped abruptly. What followed was a brutal, slide that saw Singtel share price crash to a local low of S$4.20 on 8 June 2026—wiping out months of hard-earned gains. Since hitting that floor, the stock has entered a quiet, sluggish consolidation phase around S$4.45.

On 12 June 2026, SpaceX made history as it executed the largest IPO in stock market history, raising a total of US$85.7 billion. The blockbuster listing shattered the previous record held by Saudi Aramco’s US$29.4 billion IPO in 2019. Following its debut, SpaceX is worth a staggering US$2.1 trillion at the point of writing, instantly cementing it as one of the most valuable mega-caps in the world.

Recently, a member of SG Wealth Builder wrote in to share his fascination—and understandable skepticism—over how a company that registered an overall operating loss of US$2.6 billion in 2025 could suddenly be commanded at a multi-trillion-dollar valuation. In this article, I will share my thoughts on SpaceX’s phenomenon and whether I would put my money in this stock.

In my opinion, the SpaceX IPO journey draws a distinct parallel to Tesla’s initial public offering back in 2010. Both are companies driven by Elon Musk’s philosophy: asking the public markets to fund an aggressive, capital-intensive, forward-looking vision while burning massive amounts of cash. When Tesla went public in 2010, the concept of a viable, mass-produced electric car was viewed by Wall Street as pure science fiction. At its IPO, that vision was merely a promise on paper; Tesla had only delivered about 1,500 units of its low-volume, boutique Roadster.

How high can the DBS Group Holdings share price go? The stock exploded after the bank announced its monumental $8 billion capital return bazooka, a multi-year program set to run through 2027. This aggressive capital management strategy comprises a $3 billion share buyback program and $5 billion in capital-return dividends.

The share buyback program worked like magic for DBS, driving the counter up by nearly 30% in 2025. Yet, following that roaring success, it appears the buyback engine has temporarily paused. The bank’s last share buyback was conducted on 11 July 2025—nearly a year ago. The fascinating part? The bank has utilized only about 12% of its total $3 billion buyback mandate so far. Given that management remains firmly committed to completing the buyback program over a two- to three-year window, I am of the view that the DBS share price will maintain its robust form all the way until 2027, even if shifting macroeconomic conditions inflict headwinds on the bank’s core business.

The big question now is whether the DBS Group Holdings share price can cross the $100 mark and become the first SGX stock to achieve that historic milestone. The counter has been in such majestic form in recent years that it truly feels like the sky is the limit.

All eyes will be on the upcoming Global Listing Board (GLB). Will it be the holy grail that sends SGX share price into the stratosphere?

For years, Singaporean investors have shunned local stocks in favor of New York and Hong Kong, drawn by the allure of explosive capital growth and massive liquidity. The domestic exodus was exacerbated by the dearth of exciting IPOs capable of sustaining long-term retail and institutional interest. The lowest point for SGX took place in 2024 as the local bourse saw a mind-boggling zero listings on the SGX Mainboard (all 4 companies that debuted were on Catalist board).

That dark chapter of SGX led to plenty of soul-searching. As a leading financial hub, how we arrived at that point was beyond the comprehension of many. Consequently, the structural alarm bells of 2024 forced high-level intervention by Singapore government when the MAS formed the Equities Market Review Group to revive SGX. Whilst I applaud the resolve of the authorities to make SGX great again, there is a need to contextualize the core issue. Skipping this step would be like attempting to take a step forward, only to end up taking two steps back.

On looking back, Loh Boon Chye certainly brought peace and stability to SGX share price when he became CEO in 2015.

Almost 5 years ago, I bought AEM and Mapletree Logistics Trust (MLT) shares at the same time. At that point of time, AEM was trading at a high of $5.22 while MLT share price was traded at $1.92. Fast forward 5 years, AEM shares went on a rampage to smash past a historic high of $10.40 on 29 May 2026. MLT shares? The counter had fallen off the cliff and has been on a state of perennial drunken stupor with no sight of recovery.

Some investors may argue that we should compare apple to apple. Fair enough. Let’s compare MLT with another S-REIT. From $1.92 to the current $1.20, MLT share price has plunged by a devastating 39% for the past 5 years. In comparison, CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust (CICT) shares increased by 11% in the same corresponding period. Given that both counters are heavyweights among the STI constituents, it is evident that MLT share price has underperformed significantly.

The declining MLT share price is truly frustrating and is largely due to poor financial performance as annual DPU consistently dropped from 9.011 cents in FY2022/23 to 7.262 cents in FY2025/26. Gross revenue has also dropped from $730 million to $708 million.

For most companies, geopolitical conflicts are bad due to economic uncertainties, supply chain disruptions and negative consumer sentiments. But for ST Engineering, being a defence contractor, war is good as it benefits from global demand for its products – ammunitions and armoured platforms. Year-to-date, ST Engineering share price surged 34% to reach $11.27.

The last time that I covered ST Engineering share price was in August 2019. Back then, the counter was trading around $4. Fast forward six years, few investors would have predicted that ST Engineering share price would rise by nearly 3-fold. After all, ST Engineering share price is known to be a very defensive stock with very low volatility. In fact, the 5-year beta is just 0.57 vis-à-vis DBS’ 1.17.

Due to the historically low volatility of ST Engineering share price, the explosive bull run for the past 2 years is indeed unusual. In this article, I will share my thoughts on the plausible factors for driving this structural change in ST Engineering share price.

As one of the two big boys in local aerospace MRO industry and being a strategic defence contractor in Singapore, ST Engineering’s bulk revenue come from its aerospace commercial and defence contracts.

Within a year, AEM’s share price rocketed by nearly 10 times. The meteoric rise of AEM shares certainly stunned the SGX market, as this sort of performance is usually reserved for US tech stocks and is almost unheard of on the SGX. The question now is whether AEM’s share price has fulfilled its true destiny to become one of the greatest tech stocks to grace the Singapore stock market.

Given the supersonic form of AEM’s share price, I have divested all my AEM shares. I am writing this article to note down my thought process and document some of the lessons I learned from investing in this epic stock.

On this blog, I have always maintained that on its day, AEM’s share price can be unbeatable. Conversely, when the tide turns against it, the counter can spiral out of control. On that note, this counter is really not for the faint-hearted.

Through my CPF account, I had invested in 10,000 AEM shares since 2022, having entered at a high of $5.22 in early 2022. That was a time when AEM’s business relied almost entirely on Intel for revenue. This business concentration in Intel created significant risks for AEM, especially as the US company struggled quite severely in the opening chapters of the generative AI race.

This cannot be real! In my last article on AEM share price on 29 March 2026, I wrote that the counter could soar to $6 in the following week. That didn’t happen until 24 April 2026 when AEM share price crossed $6.06. That was the week when AEM was in the Top Ten Institutional Net Buy List, with big boys buying $31 million worth of AEM shares.

In this blog, I have always maintained that on its day, AEM share price can be unbeatable. Conversely, when the tide goes against AEM share price, the counter can spiral out of control. On this note, this counter is really not for the faint-hearted.

In the last week of April, AEM share price continued its red-hot form to smash a historic high of $8 on 30 April. Since then, the counter went through some correction to reach the current $7.35. The correction is likely due to investors taking profit before the Labour Day long weekend.

In my view, the pull-back is healthy as no stock, regardless how good the business fundamentals, would rise linearly. Notwithstanding this, AEM share price is currently trading at a monstrous PE of 137. Obviously, the explosive form is caused by institutional funds trying to push up AEM share price.

Time flies! It has been nearly three years since my last deep dive into SIA on 14 June 2023. Back then, the carrier was soaring on a post-pandemic tailwind, with SIA share price peaking at $7.80 just two days later. Fast forward to April 2026, the landscape has changed dramatically with the Iran war causing fuel price to spike. While SIA continues to fly record passenger numbers, SIA share price has suffered volatile swings and a failure to reclaim those 2023 highs. In this article, I will share why SIA share price could be in trouble.

It is well-known that SIA has spent decades trying to enter India market through its joint venture with Tata, Vistara, since 2015. Following Tata’s acquisition of the state-owned Air India in early 2022, SIA and Tata agreed to merge Vistara into Air India. In my view, the deal is a double-edged sword. While India provides massive hinterland for SIA to grow, it also exposes SIA to significant risk.

As of this month, Air India has reported record losses (roughly S$3 billion for the 2025/26 financial year). Given SIA’s 25.1% stake in Air India, this represented an estimated loss of S$750 million for SIA. The SIA-Air India saga in 2026 is almost a perfect rhyme of the Singtel-Bharti Airtel crisis of 2019/2020.

Crisis? What crisis? In the aftermath of the Iran war, OCBC share price rubbished all talks of economic crisis by surging to an all-time high of $23 on 15 April 2026. Year-to-date, OCBC share price rocketed 23.2%, making the counter the best performing bank stock in SGX.

In my last article of 2025, I talked up the possibility of OCBC share price smashing past $30 in 2026, fuelled by its gigantic $2.5 billion capital return to shareholders. On the basis of the current form of OCBC share price, it seems that the counter might have a decent shot at hitting $30.

The explosive form of OCBC share price in the past 6 months certainly made many investors sit up as the bank stock is usually a laggard in comparison to DBS and UOB. For years, OCBC had a CET1 significantly higher than its peers (often hovering above 15- 16%) while MAS requires only around 6.5% to 11%. The high CET1 buffer gave investors the impression that OCBC is inefficient in its capital management.

With the $2.5 billion capital return, OCBC’s CET1 should decrease to about 14%, thereby reducing its massive pile of unutilized cash. The capital return consists of 2 components – special dividends and share buybacks.

Is this for real? For the past few weeks, I have been pinching myself to check if I am dreaming as AEM share price stormed back in an unbelievable manner. Within a year, AEM share price rocketed nearly 5-folds.  Year-to-date, the counter surged 160%.

Though I had conviction that this day will surely arrive, it still feels so unreal when it happened. This stock has given me so much heartbreaks and heart pains for the past 4 years. So you can imagine the bittersweet feeling when AEM share price returned to its swashbuckling form again. It really feels so surreal!

The explosive form of AEM shares price certainly caught the attention of the investment community as various analysts scrambled to revise new target prices for AEM. Personally, my investment in AEM is still in the red due to the fact that I had entered this counter at a high of $5.22 in 2022. However, given the robust form, I will not be surprised that AEM share price will surge past my breakeven investment level and hit $6 next week.

Apparently, the buoyant AEM share price is driven by institutional purchases. On 19 March 2026, the market went into tailspin when it emerged that JP Morgan became a substantial shareholder, having obtained 5.19% stake in AEM from open market purchases.

For Singtel investors, the view from the top must be surreal. As Singtel share price crossed the $5 mark in February 2026, many long-time holders found it almost unimaginable—especially given the significant challenges the telco has faced over the years. In this regard, I am not surprised to see die-hard fans pinching themselves. After a decade of underperforming, Singtel share price suddenly popped in 2025, to the amazement of most investors. Many of them must have thought that this day will not arrive, but it finally did.

This explosive rally of Singtel share price didn’t just break price records; it reshuffled the STI leadership. Singtel’s surging valuation saw the telco knock UOB off its long-held perch to become the third-largest company by market capitalization in Singapore.

Currently, Singtel is hot on the heels of second-placed OCBC, trailing by only a slight margin as it cements its comeback. This is indeed sweet revenge for Singtel investors as the telco used to be the leading light in STI until the banks usurped its throne 10 years ago.

From its IPO in 1993 all the way through the early 2010s, Singtel was almost always the #1 largest listed company in Singapore. In 2008, for example, its market cap was around $62 billion, comfortably ahead of the banks.

Could this be another fairytale of SGX like iFAST and AEM Holdings? Driven by the historic highs of gold price, CNMC Goldmine share price has been in a spectacular form, surging by an eye-popping 6-fold within a year. Year-to-date, CNMC Goldmine share price surged by a mighty 83%.

As gold spot price hit record levels in the past one year, interest in the precious metal increased among the investment community. Previously, I have covered SPRDR Gold ETF and e-commerce retailer, BullionStar. In this article, I will share my thoughts on a Catalist-listed gold mining company – CNMC Goldmine.

For background, CNMC Goldmine is a gold mining company that started operations in 2006 and are principally engaged in the exploration and mining of gold and the processing of mined ore into gold bars. Although the company is listed in Catalist and headquartered in Singapore, the key business activities are mainly in Kelantan, Malaysia. The company currently only has one active production mining site – Sokor Gold Field, which is their cash cow and flagship project.

CNMC Goldmine share price used to be trading at penny stock levels ($0.30 to $0.40) prior to early 2025. So those who have entered prior to 2025 would have made a killing as the counter became a multi-bagger for this group of discerning investors.