SGX Insider & Substantial Shareholder Activity from 30 Oct - 03 Nov 06

Here are the insider and substantial shareholder transactions on the SGX for the past week. Some of the institutional and fund trades are:

Legg Mason - Cambridge Indust Trust
UBS - First Engineering
UBS - Mapletree Log
HSBC - Nera Elec
Morgan Stanley Entities - UIC

There has been a barrage of negative economic data on the US front for the past week, but the indices seem to be holding up. The earnings estimates of the Nasdaq100 components shows that:

Analysts increased the earnings estimates for 15 stocks and cut earnings estimates for 10. The average change in estimates was about 9% for the 15 stocks and -5% for the 10 stocks with lowered estimates. So the sentiment still appears to be mildly positive.

In my opinion, the most worrying indicator for the US is the inverted yield curve. I think it was either Merrill or JP Morgan that's expecting short-term rates to increase again in the next yr but another powerhouse (either Goldman or Morgan Stanley) is expecting the Fed to lower the rates. So, no clear cut indication there.

On the short term technical front, both the Nikkei and FTSE indices have reached oversold levels.... is there going to be a rebound or dead-cat bounce? I'm not guessing.

An interesting side note, a friend of mine who has been following the property boom in Western Aust (where median prices of Perth and Darwin have overtaken Melbourne) that's fueled by the mining boom in the region, is expecting things to cool down soon now that the 'hot' money is tapering off.

Have a gd week!