Canada Mortgage Housing Corporation

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) is a Canada Government Crown Corporation which can provide insurance coverage on your mortgage in case of default.

That is if you can no longer service your mortgage and the lender incurred a loss as a result, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation will compensate the lender for the loss.

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation assists potential home buyers to purchase a home with little or no down payment sooner because you do not have to save for a downpayment.

Why do I need to buy mortgage insurance!

If you are borrowing 80% or less of the value of a property, you do not need to buy Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation insurance.

If you are borrowing more than 80% (referred as High Ratio Mortgage), you must buy insurance coverage from a mortgage insurance company before any financial institution will lend you the money.

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation will provide insurance coverage, subject to borrowers meeting certain criteria, up to 100% of the value of a property.

Borrowers pay a premium ranging from 0.5% to 3.10% of the mortgage amount, depending on the loan to value ratio. The higher the ratio the higher is the premium.

There used to be a limit on the value of the property if it needs mortgage insurance. This requirement has now been eliminated and you can purchase a property of any value for mortgage insurance purposes.

Imagine what the premium will be on a $400,000.00 mortgage at maximum 3.1%. That's a cool $12,400.00. If you do not have the cash, the premium may be added to the mortgage amount and repayment spread over the amortization period chosen.

Genworth Financial Mortgage Insurance Company of Canada is a public company that can also provide default insurance coverage for high ratio mortgage.

For new mortgage the maximum amortization period is 25 years. Recently Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation has extended the amortization period to 30 and 35 years at an additional premium of 0.25%. Genworth Financial Canada is offering a 30 year mortgage at a 0.2% premium and a 35 year mortgage at a 0.5% premium. The effect of a longer amortization period is that the monthly mortgage payment is reduced to a more affordable level for many borrowers.

Please note that you do not need to get in touch with CMHC or Genworth to apply for a mortgage insurance. Your mortgage broker or bank mortgage officer will apply on your behalf.

What is my chances of getting mortgage insurance?

If you have a good and proven track record, a good steady job, your income is sufficient to service your monthly mortgage payment and other debts, you have a good chance of getting approved.

How to be a DIY Equity Investor - The Minimum Considerations

It's been sometime since we updated this blog, having been distracted by something beautiful. We have learnt a lot about ourselves these few years ,made some terrible investments but life goes on. We can't turn back time but the only thing within our control now is to learn from our mistakes and not ever make the same ones again. For this article, we thought of sharing our opinions and proposing a systematic way in which one should pick their stocks and when to buy and sell equities in general. This should actually be the minimum we think one should do. The steps have actually been written in bits and pieces throughout this blog. The steps shown below is not too time consuming. we feel...In addition to the below, one can go always go one step further to do graphs to see trends such as whether the sales or cash flow is increasing along the years if they think the amount they are investing is worth the time. Pls feel free to critique or suggests improvements for one should always be humble in this world and to learn and upgrade oneself. The objective is to keep things simple. Simplicity is beautiful.

Before reading further, read this first.
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Step 1: Look at the Yield curves as a forward looking indicator to decide when to underweight or overweight on equities. (Read our blog post here)

Start selling (especially cyclical stocks): flattening yield curve

Start buying: steep and rising yield curve. Buying should increase in intensity when VIX indicator is high.

Rationale: We believe in timing business/economy cycles. Such cycles are a fact and nearly everything goes down in a downturn, even defensive stocks. But we would wish to state that we think there is no point in trying to predict exactly when the top or bottom is.

Link Tools: We have included the links on the right of this blog for the US yield curves and VIX indicator charts.

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Step 2: Select companies which generate positive free cash flow consistently from the cash flow statement for the past 4-5 years. This is one of the most important steps. This step is for filtering out stocks that don't generate free cash flow and ignoring these.

Rationale: In investing, no one can be 100% certain in anything, but one thing for sure is that companies which have flopped are those that have not been able to generate free cash flow. See below for facts. Anyway, whats good about having a business that does not generate cold hard cash? Net Profit shown on Income statements is really unreliable, subjected to depreciation expense, management manipulation, and does not take into account recoverable sales from accounts receivables.

Ferrochina (above)

Jurong Technologies Industrial (above)

Link Tools: http://www.reuters.com/

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Step 3: From Step 2, select companies that have their current assets greater than their current liabilities. Even safer is to select companies whose cash balances or fixed deposits is greater than their current liabilities. ( Read this blog post for an example here). This step is for filtering out stocks that do not have current assets greater than current liabilities and ignoring these.

Rationale: This is just to ensure that the company can survive during the bad times where banks are not as generous in their loans or will charge high rates for loans. An alarm bell should ring in one's head if the company is taking on bonds or loans that have a high interest rate. See herefor example.

Link Tools: www.sgx.com. Click on the company ticker. Click announcements and take their latest financial statements and look at the balance sheets.

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Step 4: Compile a list of the companies which satisfies Step 3 AND Step 4 . This is the watchlist. Find ratio of Price /Free Cash Flow. (P/FCF) . The FCF we use is an average of the Free Cash Flow for the past 4-5 years so as to smooth out any one offs. This step is for comparison between the different companies filtered out up till here.

Rationale: The lower it is, the more value it is relative to the other companies as one is paying lesser $$ for a unit of free cash ( or cash that the company is free to use) that the company has. It also allows comparison between different kinds of companies, such as between service and manufacturing companies. We don't subscribe to P/Book ratio as it penalises service companies by showing them generally having a large p/Book value compared to capital intensive companies. Similarly, we don't subscribe to P/Earning ratio as it generally penalises capital intensive companies due to their higher depreciation expense. All companies, no matter what their capital structure is, have to generate cash and P/FCF can allow a comparison.

We will be posting up an example of a spreadsheet we did sometime later comparing some companies.

Link Tools: http://www.reuters.com/ . Take the following data: Diluted weighted average shares, Cash from Operations, Capital expenditure to calculate the FCF per share.

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Step 5: For the list of stocks filtered till here, find the intrinsic value by using Benjamin Grahams funny formula ( See blog post here). Find also the intrinsic value using DCF for dividends. (See blog post here). This step is just to get a fluffy feel, awareness and some insights.

Rationale: Actually, we don't know the logic of Benjamin Grahams formula, but since he has proved himself and have also taught Warren Buffet before. No harm using it. Actually if one is to see the intrinsic value calculated by us, its not too ridiculous when one compares with the current market price of the stocks. DCF is quite fluffy in the sense that dividends are not constant. But the purpose of this step is to gain some insights and to get a number as a value. This is because comparisons between different companies using P/FCF simply tells one which company is more value than the others but does not tell one whether it is cheap or expensive to buy. Another good thing about doing this step is to shake off the anchoring bia-ness ( See blog post here). Anyway, it acts as an assurance if one buys a company that is trading below both the value churned out by DCF and Benjamins Grahams formula to prevent one from being too emotional, right?

Link Tools: http://www.sgx.com/

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Step 6 : Compare the average net profits % ( around 4-5 years average) and average gross profit % ( around 4-5 years average). This is just to get a general feel for the company.

Rationale: This is to see how much margin the company has to play with to fight price wars, commodity increases..e.t.c.

Link Tools: http://www.reuters.com/

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Step 7: Compare the dividends yield and dividends consistency. Generally, a higher, increasing and consistent yield is better. This step is just for comparison and gaining some insights.

Rationale: Need we say more. A higher dividend yield allows one to get back some money as one holds the stocks.Its like a "productive" asset as one waits for capital appreciation. And we don't really agree about the theory that says the more dividends a company gives out, the lower its capital appreciation will be. It makes sense actually in THEORY as the money saved can be used to fund projects to increase earnings which in turn increase the share price. But we feel its always better to get back some money earlier. Doesn't one spend money more recklessly if one has lots of it? We think one will spend more prudently and wisely if the money they have is more tight or just enough. This applies to management.

Link Tools: http://www.sgx.com/

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Step 8: Check Management Quality. Check board of directors. There is no criteria for this and its up to one to judge, just to gain some insights. Look for webcasts interviews by management.

Rationale: Need we say more. We like to see directors who are also directors of other companies and we like to see at least one female on the board. Also, directors who have different skills sets like law, accountancy, engineering...e.t.c. Also companies who have CEOs who are also not the Chairman. This makes sense as the purpose of the board of directors is to watch over the management to safeguard shareholders. If the CEO and chairman is the same, then whats the purpose? Also look at the integrity of the management and their past history which could affect share prices. For example why is Golden Agri so much below its NTA. See here for possible reason.

Link Tools : Company website lah..

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Step 9: Check shareholding statistics. There is no criteria, just to gain some insights

Rationale: Is the management putting their money where their mouth is? Our preference is for management to hold some shares but not too much. More than 50% and we think its too much. We think this is a safeguard as if the share market plummets again after we buy and the majority shareholder decides to delist it by buying the shares at a low price, our money is gone.

Link Tools: Company website or financial reports

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Step 10: Check the growth rate of outstanding shares through the years. This is just to gain some insights.

Rationale: Actually we dislike companies whose outstanding shares grow too much too fast. We don't like employee stock incentives and management share options. All this just means that our proportionate ownership of the business is lesser and that the company has to make more money to justify the increase in oustanding shares and to make sure that our proportion of the money the company makes does not decrease too. Again, we don't agree that giving out such shares will motivate workers much. This is from experience and also talking to people on the ground. Its too theoretical.

Link Tools: http://www.reuters.com/

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Step 11: Check for management buying and selling the shares and at what cost. Check for share buybacks and at what cost. This is just to gain some insights and feeling shiok that we bought lower than the managers or company.

Rationale: Generally companies or management buy back shares if they think their company is undervalued or its a better to invest in their own company than to use the cash to do anything else. Share buybacks increases one's proportionate ownership of the company also.

Link Tools: http://www.sgx.com/

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Step 12: Sit back, relax and think about the business model of the company. Does it have an economic moat? Who are its competitors? How many suppliers it has? Is it highly regulated? Is it highly exposed to commodity prices as their input?Talk to your friends working in the company ( not insider trading lah...as in ask them about the industry trends, how stingy is the company in doling out bonus to staff, generally, the more stingy the company is to the staff, its better for the shareholders...sound sick but hey, its always about the shareholders)

Rationale: This is to determine the factors affecting their revenue and expenses.

Link Tools: Your own brain, google and porter's 5 forces.

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Step 13: Use of technical indicators just to get a general feel of when to enter. What we use is ADX, RSI, Volume and Bollinger Bands . We are not traders, but just trying to get a little better deal.

Rationale: If more people use it, the more likely it is true right, like a self fulfillig prophecy. Actually, these are not dependable for the SGX market due to the low volume and the ease for manipulators to play around. More dependable for US markets with their high volumes of trade. But as long as it gives us a 0.0001% better chance of buying it at a o.o1 cent cheaper price, why not? since it so easily to use. But we are not too bothered anyway even if it tells us wrongly, cos we are not traders but some cheapskates who are trying to just get that slightly cheaper deal.

Link Tools: Any respectable brokerage house should have it. DBSVOnline's free charting is pretty decent due to the ability to choose the colours for the chart lines.

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One can always go further my following what this blogger who calls herself Dancerene did. See here . ( In addition, always read the footnotes !)
Important: The objective of the articles in this blog is to set you thinking about the company before you invest your hard-earned money. Do not invest solely based on this article. Unlike House or Instituitional Analysts who have to maintain relations with corporations due to investment banking relations, generating commissions,e.t.c, SGDividends say things as it is, factually. Unlike Analyst who have to be "uptight" and "cheem", we make it simplified and cheapskate. -The Vigilante Investor, SGDividends Team

2009 FHA Jumbo update - 2nd appraisal Requirements

New for 2009 with FHA Jumbo Loans are some changes to the second appraisal requirements for FHA Jumbo Loans.

In 2008, the threshold for FHA Jumbo loans that require a second appraisal was those loans greater than $362,800 in 2008. The new Threshold for FHA Jumbo Loans requiring a second appraisal for 2009 is $417,000. All FHA Loans $417,001 and above still require the second appraisal, yet this modernization of FHA allows those loans falling between $362,800 and $417,000 to be completed with a single FHA appraisal.

This holds true for FHA Jumbo Purchase Loans, FHA Jumbo Refinance Loans, and non-credit qualifying FHA Jumbo Streamline Refinance loans. FHA Jumbo Streamline Refinance loans are available with NO appraisal required as long as we credit qualify the loan.

FHA Cash out Refinances over 85% LTV also require a second appraisal, regardless of Loan amount.

VanDyk Mortgage has been making FHA loans & VA Loans since 1987. We are a HUD recognized Full Eagle FHA DE underwriter, FHA Direct Lender, & VA Direct Lender. Go with the Government Loan Pros, go with VanDyk. Visit us at www.vandykfunding.com or call Brian Skaar at 760-752-4480 for help with your FHA Streamline, FHA purchase loan, VA purchase loan, or VA Streamline. We offer FHA, FHA Jumbo, FHA Manual Underwrite, FHA Rehab 203K, VA, VA Jumbo, Conforming & Jumbo Loans. We serve the following areas for VA, FHA and Conventional loans: California,Southern California, Northern California, Washington, Texas, Georgia, Florida, San Diego, San Marcos, Carlsbad, Oceanside, Vista, Escondido, Fallbrook, Bonsall, Riverside, Los Angeles, Orange County, Irvine, Corona, Anaheim, and every other city in California, Georgia, Texas, Florida & Washington.

Interest Rates

The price or amount that someone pays for the transitory use of someone else's funds is called interest. Interest could also mean the payment that someone receives for giving up the ability to spend money temporarily for the purpose of lending the money to someone else.


The definitions clearly describe the relationship between a lender and a borrower. Lenders would not willingly allow anyone to borrow or allow him or herself the sacrifice of not spending money if there is no interest. On the other hand, borrowers would be only too happy to spend if they do not have to worry about interest rates.

If, for example, you intend to borrow $100 per year, the interest rate would be 10 percent per year. This is due to the fact that interest rates are expressed as percents per year. In the end, you would have to pay the $100 you owe and an additional $10 in interest.

There are reasons why interest rates exist, but they are different from the perspectives of a lender and a borrower. From a lender's point of view, an interest rate makes up for increasing prices of goods. This is a means to compensate him for giving up his power to purchase by lending his money to others. An interest rate also makes up for the risk that a lender makes in having his money borrowed. For bank lenders, an interest rate allows them to stay in business. The profit from interest rates allows banks to continue running.

From a borrower's point of view, an interest rate allows him to spend now, rather than later on items. Interest rates also allow a borrower to make a larger or a more expensive purchase such as a house or a car. By availing of interest rates, education becomes affordable to some borrowers. Willingness to pay interest allows business borrowers to purchase equipment, buildings and inventories to make investments and increase their profits. Some borrowers are willing to pay interest rates because they are after associated tax advantages.

An example of this is the mortgage interest, which is tax deductible in the United States. During the calculation of the income tax, the mortgage interest is subtracted. Banks, on the other hand, are willing to pay interest rates to their depositors. This is because the deposits allow them to lend money at higher interest rates and get bigger profits in return. Also, it is a known fact that banks tend to charge higher interest rates on loans than on deposits.

Moreover, interest rates are income to people who are willing to forego the use of their money. As mentioned earlier, banks give interest rates to their depositors. Similarly, you will gain interest income if you purchase a Savings Bond. On the other hand, if you think about it, an interest rate is a cost to borrowers. If the money loaned is not fully paid, interest rates have to be paid. Lastly, an interest rate is a means to move funds to where they could earn the highest rates.

FHA Streamline Refinance - No Appraisal Required

VanDyk Mortgage offers FHA Streamline refinances with No Appraisal Required.

This a great way for families with FHA Loans who purchased a home in the past couple years or who may have refinanced their FHA Loan in the past couple years an opportunity to take advantage of today's low interest rates to lower their home loan rate with a FHA Streamline Refinance without the worry about stagnant or falling property values killing the deal.

FHA, FHA Jumbo Loans, FHA 203K loans, and FHA Secure loans all qualify for the FHA Streamline Refinance with no appraisal requirement. There is no out of pocket expense to complete the FHA Streamline Refinance without appraisal in most cases, even for FHA Jumbo Streamline refinance.

FHA Streamline Refinaces with No Credit or Income qualification are also available. These do require an Appraisal, but can still save you hundreds per month!

The FHA Streamline Refi is available for FHA, FHA Jumbo Size loans, FHA Secure loans, and FHA 203K loans (if work is complete).

For FHA Streamline Refinance Loans and VA Streamline Refinance (IRRRL) loans call the Government loan experts at VanDyk Mortgage - 866-900-2342 or apply now at http://www.vandykfunding.com/.

VanDyk Mortgage also offers FHA Jumbo Streamline Refinance loans - it is OK with us if your loan amount exceeds the 2009 loan limits, we can still help you with your FHA Jumbo Streamline Refinance.

VanDyk Mortgage has been making FHA loans & VA Loans since 1987. We are a HUD recognized Full Eagle FHA DE underwriter, FHA Direct Lender, & VA Direct Lender.

Go with the Government Loan Pros, go with VanDyk. Visit us at http://www.vandykfunding.com/ or call Brian Skaar at 760-752-4480 for help with your FHA Streamline, FHA purchase loan, VA purchase loan, or VA Streamline.

We offer FHA, FHA Jumbo, FHA Manual Underwrite, FHA Rehab 203K, VA, VA Jumbo, Conforming & Jumbo Loans. We serve the following areas for VA, FHA and Conventional loans: California,Southern California, Northern California, Washington, Texas, Georgia, Florida, San Diego, San Marcos, Carlsbad, Oceanside, Vista, Escondido, Fallbrook, Bonsall, Riverside, Los Angeles, Orange County, Irvine, Corona, Anaheim, and every other city in California, Georgia, Texas, Florida & Washington, CA, WA, GA, FL, MO, MI, TX, . VanDyk Mortgage is your FHA Lender & VA Lender of choice.

FHA Loan myth #4 - Down Payment Assistance is gone

FHA Loan myth #4 - Down Payment Assistance is gone.

There is much confusion about the recent demise of FHA seller funded Downpayment assistance. Many Homebuyers and Realtors alike are confused by the press coverage.
You can still receive credit for closing costs, recurring & non-recurring, from sellers with FHA Loans.

In fact, the seller can pay up to 6% of the purchase price towards your buyers closing costs, prepaid items, repairs, etc and FHA is OK with this.

So how does this differ from Seller Funded Down Payment Assistance Programs that were recently outlawed? (DPA's)

FHA Loans require a minimum cash investment from the buyer of 3.5% of the purchase price from their own funds or from gift funds from Relatives. There are some other more obscure gift fund sources available as well, but they are much harder to find for buyers. The remaining cash necessary to close (IE closing costs, taxes, insurance, points, prepaid Interest, etc) can be paid by the seller. Buyer puts the minimum 3.5% down toward the closing. (or is gifted that amount from family).

DPA's utilized a charity or other organization to "donate" the Cash proceeds necessary to homebuyers, therefore helping the buyer meet the "FHA minimum cash investment" requirement. The Seller was actually the one who paid for the funds, via donations to the charity to directly benefit the buyer. With DPA's the buyer didn't have to put any of their own money (savings or gifted) into the purchase. That is the practice that is now outlawed.

So here is what is Available today: The Seller can contribute up to 6% of the selling price in a FHA purchase loan transaction toward the buyers Closing Costs (as defined above). The buyer simply needs to bring 3.5% of the purchase price to the transaction from either their own savings or gifts from family.

Call us to get started buying your home with a safe, secure, affordable FHA Loan. 760-752-4480 or apply online at http://www.vandykfunding.com/.

FHA Streamline Refinance - Minimum Time since Purchase of Home or last FHA Refinance

FHA Streamline Refinance - What is the Minimum time elapsed since home purchase before eligible for and FHA Streamline Refinace?. This is a subject of great interest to recent home buyers who took advantage of the benefits of FHA loans to purchase their new homes.

Well, rates have dropped significantly, and the question comes up:

"How long do I have to wait before I can get a FHA Streamline Refinance or FHA Refinance after purchasing my home?" (or after a FHA Refinance loan)

Most banks answer: 6 months - 12 months.

VanDyk Mortgage Answer: No Minimum time! This is for FHA standard size & FHA Jumbo loans.

We do prefer that at least one on-time payment has been made on your loan, as this makes the process quicker & easier to administrate, however this is not required in all cases. Many new homeowners can save from $200-500 per month with the VanDyk FHA Streamline Refinance, with no out of pocket costs! The FHA Streamline Refi is available for FHA, FHA Jumbo Size loans, FHA Secure loans, and FHA 203K loans (if work is complete).

For FHA Streamline Refinance Loans and VA Streamline Refinance (IRRRL) loans call the Government loan experts at VanDyk Mortgage - 866-900-2342 or apply now at http://www.vandykfunding.com/.

VanDyk Mortgage has been making FHA loans & VA Loans since 1987. We are a HUD recognized Full Eagle FHA DE underwriter, FHA Direct Lender, & VA Direct Lender. Go with the Government Loan Pros, go with VanDyk. Visit us at http://www.vandykfunding.com/ or call Brian Skaar at 760-752-4480 for help with your FHA Streamline, FHA purchase loan, VA purchase loan, or VA Streamline. We offer FHA, FHA Jumbo, FHA Manual Underwrite, FHA Rehab 203K, VA, VA Jumbo, Conforming & Jumbo Loans. We serve the following areas for VA, FHA and Conventional loans: California,Southern California, Northern California, Washington, Texas, Georgia, Florida, San Diego, San Marcos, Carlsbad, Oceanside, Vista, Escondido, Fallbrook, Bonsall, Riverside, Los Angeles, Orange County, Irvine, Corona, Anaheim, and every other city in California, Georgia, Texas, Florida & Washington.

FHA Streamline Refinance - Minimum Time since Purchase of Home or last FHA Refinance. FHA jumbo streamline refinance available now. call today. 866-900-2342 toll free.

Cut interest rates

The Bank of Canada should cut interest rates to a record low next week to stimulate the economy, a panel of private-sector economists said Thursday as evidence of a deepening recession - globally and in Canada - mounted, including a major drop in Canadian home sales and home prices.

The C.D. Howe Institute panel called for a further half-point cut next Tuesday in the bank's trendsetting target rate to one per cent. One of the 10 members called for a full-point reduction, and another for a whopping 1.25-point drop to just 0.25 per cen

The half-point recommended by the panel would likely trigger a matching cut in the chartered banks' blue-chip prime rate - to which business and consumer floating-rate loans, including mortgages, are tied - to three per cent from an already all-time low of 3.5 per cent.

The need for further housing-market stimulus was highlighted by the Canadian Real Estate Association, which reported that home sales in December fell 1.8 per cent from November to their lowest level since 2000.

And the average price of a home plunged 11 per cent from a year earlier in December, and was down for the year as a whole, ending the nine-year housing boom of steady price gains.

"Average prices will remain under pressure during the Canadian economic recession," warned association chief economist Gregory Klump.

"There has been a fundamental shift in consumer confidence, with job insecurities prevailing in every region Canada. That is unlikely to change until the worst of the recession is behind us."

The industry association appealed to the federal government to include measures in its Jan. 27 budget to stimulate housing, including an increase from $20,000 to $25,000 in the amount homebuyers can draw tax-free out of their RRSPs for a down payment, and expanding the provision to include more than just first-time home purchasers.

However, association president Calvin Lindberg cautioned that "moderating home prices in Canada should not be confused with the downturn in the U.S. housing market" that pushed that giant economy, and in turn the global and Canadian economy, into recession.

The U.S. recession is still deepening, reports Thursday suggested.

"Consumer sentiment reached a six-year low as Americans continued to be rocked by increasing job losses, poor holiday-shopping season reports, and the ongoing inability of the government and the private sector to stabilize the economy," RBC said in a report based on a survey of U.S. consumer attitudes and spending.

Considering the U.S. consumer accounts for 70 per cent of that economy's GDP, and the U.S. accounts for 75 per cent of Canadian exports, that doesn't bode well for Canadians either.

Still, there was a hint of hope amid the rubble of the RBC survey's findings - a marginal increase from 29 per cent to 30 per cent of respondents who expect their local economy will be stronger in six months' time.

The analysis said this may reflect an enthusiasm for soon-to-be-inaugurated U.S. president-elect Barack Obama and "Americans' openness to the stimulus proposals coming out of Washington rather than any expectation that local economies will improve quickly."

In light of the deepening slump in the U.S. economy and consumer confidence, it's not surprising the mood of Canadian exporters has also hit an all-time low.

But it was concerns about domestic sales prospects that weighed most heavily on exporters, Export Development Canada chief economist Peter Hall said Thursday in releasing results of the fall survey on the confidence of exporters.

Just 28 per cent - the lowest share ever by a wide margin - expected a near-term increase in domestic sales, while only 12 per cent expected an improvement in the domestic economy, while a record high 57 per cent expected a further deterioration.

"Over the past five years, exporters were able to count on a strong domestic market to tide them through the relentless rise in the Canadian dollar," Hall said.

"Last fall, that upbeat view of the domestic scene soured considerably."

Underscoring their pessimism about the domestic economy was news from Statistics Canada of a further seven per cent drop in new car sales in November, the steepest monthly plunge in three years.

Meanwhile, showing the growing global concern about the economic crisis was a decision by the anti-inflation-focused European Central Bank to cut its trendsetting interest rate to two per cent.

VanDyk Mortgage now allows FHA Streamline Refinances with loan amounts ABOVE new 2009 loan limits

VanDyk Mortgage now allows FHA Streamline Refinances with loan amounts ABOVE new 2009 FHA loan limits. WOW.

I just posted another blog on this issue, but I thought it was very important to very, very clear.

VanDyk Mortgage will allow you to refinance your FHA Loan via the FHA Streamline Refinance even if your loan balance exceeds the new 2009 FHA Loan limits for your area.

Please call for details, 866-900-2342 toll free - ask for Brian Skaar.


VanDyk Mortgage has been making FHA loans since 1987. We are a HUD recognized Full Eagle FHA DE underwriter and FHA Direct Lender. Go with the Government Loan Pros, go with VanDyk. Visit us at http://www.vandykfunding.com/ or call Brian Skaar at 760-752-4480 for help with your FHA Streamline or FHA purchase loan. We offer FHA, FHA Jumbo, FHA Manual Underwrite, FHA Rehab 203K, VA, Conforming & Jumbo Loans. We serve the following areas for VA, FHA and Conventional loans: California,Southern California, Northern California, Washington, Texas, Georgia, Florida, San Diego, San Marcos, Carlsbad, Oceanside, Vista, Escondido, Fallbrook, Bonsall, Riverside, Los Angeles, Orange County, Irvine, Corona, Anaheim, and every other city in California, CA, WA, GA, FL, MO, MI, TX. FHA jumbo streamline refinance available now. call today. 866-900-2342 toll free.

FHA Streamline Refinance - Great savings opportunity

I just wanted to post something real quickly about FHA Streamline Refinances - They are an exceptionally easy way to save money on your monthly house payment.

With FHA Streamline Finances you have reduced documentation requirements such as No Appraisal, or No Income. These are very easy to process for you with little or no cash out of pocket.

VanDyk Mortgage is a FHA Direct lender, and has been making FHA, VA, & Conventional Loans since 1987. Go with the Government Loan Pros, call VanDyk.

FHA jumbo streamline refinance available now. call today. 866-900-2342 toll free.

Many more FHA Posts here

I have decided to consolidate most of my Blog posts on this site, VanDykMortgage.

However, I have posted many helpful & informational FHA Blog posts on two other Blogs, FHAsecure, and FHA Jumbo.

You may want to check them out.

FHA Jumbo Streamline Refinance - Great news!

With the new 2009 Loan limits, many Homeowners have found they have a FHA Loan that is actually at a higher principal balance than the new 2009 FHA Loan limit for their area, limiting their ability to refinance into the new lower rates available today.

For instance, if you purchased a home with a FHA Jumbo Loan in Los Angeles in 2008, the limit was $729,750. In 2009 the limit for Los Angeles is $625,500. Those Homeowners who purchased homes using FHA Jumbo loans in 2008 with loan amounts higher than the 2009 limits (> $625,500) may have been told by their lender that they cannot refinance into today's new lower rates due to their FHA Loan exceeding the 2009 loan limits.

VanDyk Mortgage can help you with our FHA Jumbo Streamline program. We can process your FHA Jumbo Streamline Refinance at the old loan limits for your area. This could save you hundreds per month.

Loans over $625,500 are OK!

VanDyk Mortgage has been making FHA loans since 1987. We are a HUD recognized Full Eagle FHA DE underwriter and FHA Direct Lender. Go with the Government Loan Pros, go with VanDyk. Visit us at http://www.vandykfunding.com/ or call Brian Skaar at 760-752-4480 for help with your FHA loan. We offer FHA, FHA Jumbo, FHA Manual Underwrite, FHA Rehab 203K, VA, Conforming & Jumbo Loans. We serve the following areas for VA, FHA and Conventional loans: California,Southern California, Northern California, Washington, Texas, Georgia, Florida, San Diego, San Marcos, Carlsbad, Oceanside, Vista, Escondido, Fallbrook, Bonsall, Riverside, Los Angeles, Orange County, Irvine, Corona, Anaheim, Santa Ana, Seattle, Washington, Bellevue, Kirkland, Redmond, Lynnwood, Olympia, Tacoma, Puyallup, Buckley, Auburn, Kent, Federal Way, Seatac, San Francisco, San Jose, Carson, Gardena, Hawthorne, Lawndale, Inglewood, Ladera Heights, View Park, Windsor Hills, Baldwin Hills, Fox Hills, Culver City, Beverly Hills, Malibu, Santa Monica, Brentwood, Calabasas, Encino, Bel Air Estates, Palos Verdes Estates, Rancho Palos Verdes, Rolling Hills, Rolling Hills Estates, Manhattan Beach, Redondo Beach, Hermosa Beach, Torrance, San Marcos, San Diego, Rancho Bernardo, Carlsbad, Escondido, Poway, Oceanside, Vista, Encinitas, Carmel Valley, Scripps, Tierra Santa, El Cajon, La Jolla, Chula Vista, National City, San Ysidro, Santee, Eastlake, Ramona, Long Beach, Artesia, La Palma, Cerritos, Compton, Lynwood, Bellflower, Temecula, Murrieta, Southern California, Northern California, Washington, Everett, Lynnwood, Tacoma, Kent, Federal Way, Auburn, Renton, Bellevue, Redmond, Kirkland, Whittier, Santa Fe Springs, Downey, Irvine, Newport Beach, Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Riverside and Orange County. FHA jumbo streamline refinance available now.

New VA rules allow better Refinance options for Vets & Active Duty Service Members

New VA rules allow better Refinance options for USA Vets & Active Duty Service
Members.

The new VA rules allow Vets & Active Duty Service Members to refinance their non VA home loans into safe, secure VA Fixed Rate Home Loans up to 100% of their homes appraised value. This new program should help thousands of USA Vets & Active Duty Service Members to save their homes, solidify their financial future, and start building wealth for the future.

If you need to Refinance your Non-VA home loan, the new VA Refinance offers you the best option for affordability, and it is very reasonable to qualify. The former limit for this type of transaction was 90% of the home's value and $144,000. It is now 100% of your home's value and the loan limits go as high as $1,094,625 in some counties. To find out the loan limit for your county, click here.

Call the Government Loan Experts at VanDyk Mortgage today at 866-900-2342. http://www.vandykfunding.com/.

We serve the following areas for VA, FHA and Conventional loans: California, San Diego, San Marcos, Carlsbad, Oceanside, Vista, Escondido, Fallbrook, Bonsall, Riverside, Los Angeles, Orange County, Irvine, Corona, Anaheim, Santa Ana, Seattle, Washington, Bellevue, Kirkland, Redmond, Lynnwood, Olympia, Tacoma, Puyallup, Buckley, Auburn, Kent, Federal Way, Seatac, San Francisco, San Jose, Carson, Gardena, Hawthorne, Lawndale, Inglewood, Ladera Heights, View Park, Windsor Hills, Baldwin Hills, Fox Hills, Culver City, Beverly Hills, Malibu, Santa Monica, Brentwood, Calabasas, Encino, Bel Air Estates, Palos Verdes Estates, Rancho Palos Verdes, Rolling Hills, Rolling Hills Estates, Manhattan Beach, Redondo Beach, Hermosa Beach, Torrance, San Marcos, San Diego, Rancho Bernardo, Carlsbad, Escondido, Poway, Oceanside, Vista, Encinitas, Carmel Valley, Scripps, Tierra Santa, El Cajon, La Jolla, Chula Vista, National City, San Ysidro, Santee, Eastlake, Ramona, Long Beach, Artesia, La Palma, Cerritos, Compton, Lynwood, Bellflower, Temecula, Murrieta, Southern California, Northern California, Washington, Everett, Lynnwood, Tacoma, Kent, Federal Way, Auburn, Renton, Bellevue, Redmond, Kirkland, Whittier, Santa Fe Springs, Downey, Irvine, Newport Beach, Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Riverside and Orange County.

VA Streamline Refinances now even better

Enhanced VA refinance Options for Current VA Home loan holders.

The Enhanced VA Streamline Refinance now helps you to lower your interest rate on your VA Loan.

Recent legislation passed by Congress now allows Current VA loan holders to Refinance their VA Home Loans into lower interest rate VA Home Loans via the VA IRRRL, AKA " the Earl" or Interest Rate Reduction Refinance Loan. What a mouthful. I prefer Earl.

This loan is now available up to the VA Loan Limit for your area. These were previously limited to $144,000.

The Streamline VA Refinance program allows you to Lower your interest rate & monthly payment with:
*NO Appraisal Required (yes, no appraisal required)
*NO Credit Check required
*NO Income Documentation required
*NO MI (mortgage insurance)
*NO Money out of Pocket.

Call us today to get started saving money on your monthly house payment. 866-900-2342.
VanDyk Mortgage has been making Government Home Loans since 1987. We are a VA Direct Lender (FHA Direct Lender too). Call the Government Loan Pros first, you will be happy you did. 866-900-2342 toll free - www.vandykfunding.com .

There are also new Refinance options for Veterans who do not currently have a VA Loan. The new VA loan regulations now allow you to refinance your non-VA Loan into a new VA Home Loan up to 100% of your homes value. These do require appraisal, credit, income, etc, but the benefits for Veterans and Active Duty Service Members are tremendous. Call us to see if this option could help you into a safe, secure fixed rate VA Loan.

We serve the following areas for VA, FHA and Conventional loans: California, San Diego, San Marcos, Carlsbad, Oceanside, Vista, Escondido, Fallbrook, Bonsall, Riverside, Los Angeles, Orange County, Irvine, Corona, Anaheim, Santa Ana, Seattle, Washington, Bellevue, Kirkland, Redmond, Lynnwood, Olympia, Tacoma, Puyallup, Buckley, Auburn, Kent, Federal Way, Seatac, San Francisco, San Jose, Carson, Gardena, Hawthorne, Lawndale, Inglewood, Ladera Heights, View Park, Windsor Hills, Baldwin Hills, Fox Hills, Culver City, Beverly Hills, Malibu, Santa Monica, Brentwood, Calabasas, Encino, Bel Air Estates, Palos Verdes Estates, Rancho Palos Verdes, Rolling Hills, Rolling Hills Estates, Manhattan Beach, Redondo Beach, Hermosa Beach, Torrance, San Marcos, San Diego, Rancho Bernardo, Carlsbad, Escondido, Poway, Oceanside, Vista, Encinitas, Carmel Valley, Scripps, Tierra Santa, El Cajon, La Jolla, Chula Vista, National City, San Ysidro, Santee, Eastlake, Ramona, Long Beach, Artesia, La Palma, Cerritos, Compton, Lynwood, Bellflower, Temecula, Murrieta, Southern California, Northern California, Washington, Everett, Lynnwood, Tacoma, Kent, Federal Way, Auburn, Renton, Bellevue, Redmond, Kirkland, Whittier, Santa Fe Springs, Downey, Irvine, Newport Beach, Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Riverside and Orange County.

GloomBoomDoom Marc Faber Interview

This one of the best interviews we have seen. Nothing new but there are some things he said which is quite refreshing! Basically, the summary of this interview on 1 Dec 2008 is:
1)Buy and hold strategy is dead.Warren Buffet's approach is dead for 10 years and will be dead for another 10 years ........MEOW!
2)US and China economy is a total disaster
3)He is bullish on Gold
4)He thinks Treasury bonds is the next bubble
5)He thinks the global economy will take at least 5 years to recover
6)China's reserve of 2 trillion dollars in reserve is not much in proportion of the 1.3 billion population size.
7) The Chinese is not a good example on how to invest money as they has most of their holdings in USD treasury bills
8) Central bankers are making things worse by printing more money and should let more banks fail
9)Corporate bonds is worth to invest in
10)He expects the economy to go down very badly in 2009 and be a total disaster.

Marc Faber - Part 1

Marc Faber - Part 2

Important: The objective of the articles in this blog is to set you thinking about the company before you invest your hard-earned money. Do not invest solely based on this article. Unlike House or Instituitional Analysts who have to maintain relations with corporations due to investment banking relations, generating commissions,e.t.c, SGDividends say things as it is, factually. Unlike Analyst who have to be "uptight" and "cheem", we make it simplified and cheapskate. -The Vigilante Investor, SGDividends Team

About Gold - An Opinioniated Article Against the Majority

We met an old finance lecturer today and boy does he look old. He told us to buy Gold because the value of the US Dollar is forecasted to decline in the long run and Gold is deemed to be inversely related to the USD dollar. Should we listen to him? Yes, we agree with him that the US Dollar is highly likely to decline, but still should we buy Gold? As Indians are particularly fond of Gold, we decided to go to Mustafa Centre to immerse ourselves in the big jewellery shops they have there where one would feel like they are in Gold Wonderland, with the precious metal glittering all around you. We spoke to the staff there and all we remember is " Buy Gold".

We decided to go back to our garage to be a keyboard warrior to do some research on the internet and most signs point us to buy Gold. Great!

Lets look at the charts. Gold has indeed risen extraordinarily,especially since 2005 onwards. The known factors that affect Gold are the following:

1) US Dollar - If the value of the US dollar is declining due to inflation or the Government printing too much money, Gold will go up.

2) Demand of Jewellery - Higher jewellery demand = higher Gold Price

3)Ease of buying and selling Gold - Due to more and more Gold ETFs, e.t.c. As when one makes things easy for people to buy and sell, people will trade more.

The combination of the above 3 factors should suffice to explain the rapid increase in Gold Prices from 2005 to 2008. So let us see what Warren Buffet has to say about Gold:

It gets dug out of the ground in Africa, or someplace. Then we melt it down, dig another hole, bury it again and pay people to stand around guarding it. It has no utility. Anyone watching from Mars would be scratching their head."

As usual, as we don't follow blindly to opinions unless substantiated with data and facts ( who cares if he is warren buffet or Jim Rogers or Obama or Hu Jintao or Mother Theresa), we decided to check Wikipedia to find out more about Gold and its uses.

According to Wikipedia, Uses of Gold ( in addition to store of value and Jewellery) are the following :

1)Medicine - used as dental fillings, used as conductive coating in electron beam microscope, used to treat rheumatoid arthritis

2) Food and drink - Gold leaves in drink

3) Electronics - generally, electrical contacts due to its high conductivity.

Frankly, the above uses of Gold, in our opinion, are lame. Do we really need to drink Gold Leaves and just how many people actually drink Gold Leaves? Dental fillings can actually be grouped under Jewellery, a luxury good and just how many people have dental fillings and how much Gold is needed for a dental filling? And how about Gold use due to its conductivity? Lets look at the table of conductivity for various metals( see below), again from Wikipedia. Silver and copper are better conductors of electricity than Gold. So Gold does not seem to have much of an "economic moat" for its use as a good electrical conductor.The only valid use for Gold, therefore, is definitely as a "culturally accepted" store of value as it is really quite a useless metal. And "culturally accepted" things are quite fluffy. Read more on the "culturally accepted" tulip flower in the mid-1630s where a tulip bulb can be used to buy a house.

So will one make money by buying Gold?Quite possibly yes because of the inverse correlation between Gold Price and the US dollar ( see chart below) and the US dollar value is highly likely to go down, but we rather forgo this opportunity as we don't like things without any fundamental underlying demand other than its demand just hinging on the fact that it is culturally accepted. Furthermore, Gold's supply is generally constant as it does not spoil and not generally consumed ( just look at the lame uses above). Compare this with other commodities, say oil, where the supply is common sensically dwindling as its always constantly consumed while demand is fundamentally increasing in the long run. Based on this, basic economics of demand and supply states that Gold is a inferior investment than oil, for example.

To be fair to the Gold Proponents (Majority), here is a link to a website that explains why Gold is worth investing:
http://www.gold-eagle.com/editorials_02/hommel102802.html

Demand Breakdown for Gold ( added on 11 Jan 2008)

Important: The objective of the articles in this blog is to set you thinking about the company before you invest your hard-earned money. Do not invest solely based on this article. Unlike House or Instituitional Analysts who have to maintain relations with corporations due to investment banking relations, generating commissions,e.t.c, SGDividends say things as it is, factually. Unlike Analyst who have to be "uptight" and "cheem", we make it simplified and cheapskate. -The Vigilante Investor, SGDividends Team

Housing market in 2009

In Canada, the average price of homes sold via the MLS in November fell 9.8 per cent from the same month in 2007.

CANADA: -9.8%

St. John's: +30.8%
Saint John: +5.5%
Halifax-Dartmouth: +12.6%
Ottawa-Carleton: +7.3%
Toronto: -6.3%
Kitchener-Waterloo: +2.2%
Hamilton-Burlington: +6.3%
London-St. Thomas: +1.6%
Windsor: +3.4%
Winnipeg: +1.8%
Saskatoon: +10.9%
Regina: +27.6%
Edmonton: -2.0%
Calgary: -6.0%
Victoria: -12:4%
Vancouver: -11.6%

UNITED STATES: -18%

The price of single-family U.S. homes in the 20 largest metropolitan areas fell 18 per cent in October from a year earlier.

Las Vegas: -31.7%
New York: -7.5%
Cleveland: -6.2%
Portland: -10.1%
Dallas: -3.0%
Seattle: -10.2%
Miami: -29.0%
Tampa: -19.8%
Atlanta: -10.5%
Chicago: -10.8%
Boston: -6.0%
Detroit: -20.4%
Minneapolis: -16.3%
Charlotte: -4.5%
Phoenix: -32.7%
Los Angeles: -27.9%
San Diego: -26.7%
San Francisco: -31.0%
Denver: -5.2%
Washington: -18.7%

At Christmastime a year ago, Toronto-area realtors had good reason to celebrate. The year ended with record high sales and the industry never looked healthier.

"Home buyers had to stop at Chapters last year for reading material just to stand in line for a condo," says realtor Mike Donia. "The banks were lending you money hand over fist."

One year later the turnaround has been dramatic and unprecedented.

At the end of 2007 prices rose by 7 per cent and sales by 12 per cent over the previous year.

But in September, as the global credit crunch started to exact a toll, the Toronto market finally succumbed to a 3 per cent price decline, the first such drop in more than a decade. By the end of November, the average home was some $25,000 cheaper than it was during the same time last year.

"The swiftness of the change in real estate market conditions and market sentiment was quite surprising," says RBC senior economist Robert Hogue. "For most of us looking at where the GTA economy was heading it was fairly clear there would be some dampening, but over the last few months it looked as if the market just priced in all the problems at once."

Given the credit crunch on Wall Street that has spread to markets globally, the question remains as to how much further Canadian households will be affected in 2009? For the average homeowner, the worry is whether prices will fall further and, if so, by how much.

Economists missed calling the real estate decline by a wide margin, to the point that last month the Bank of Canada warned ominously that many Canadians were in danger of losing their homes if the economic crisis gets worse.

But how did we get to this point?

The mantra, repeated endlessly by the real estate industry and some analysts, was that Canada was largely isolated from the pain in the United States, and that high oil prices and a more conservative approach to lending had helped us to partially decouple from sectors of the global economy.

"We're fine – it's the rest of the world that has problems" seemed to be the key message over the past few years.

"Canadians have watched with amazement for nearly two years now at the collapse of the housing sector in the United States, the United Kingdom and other countries that experienced overvalued housing prices with the sense that markets in this country stand on more solid ground," says Hogue.

It wasn't until last year, when prices started to fall in western provinces that some economists started to question the strength of the Canadian housing market.

And while sales in Toronto fell every month last year compared with the previous year, prices seemed to be holding the line.

"We're fine – it's the western provinces that have the problems – they appreciated too far and too fast" seemed to be the consensus then.

Analysts forecast that, after a decade-long run, the Greater Toronto Area's real estate market would be in for a "soft landing," and they seemed to be right.

In January, sales were down by only 2 per cent – a rounding error compared with the record numbers of 2007.

As the year progressed, sales started to decline further, but more importantly for homeowners, prices didn't.

But since September, prices and sales started to fall. The most recent numbers from the Toronto Real Estate Board show that, in the first two weeks of December, there were 1,487 sales, or about 48 per cent less than the same time in 2007.

Most people are hoping this is just a blip on the way to greener pastures.

After all, the Canadian economy is still fundamentally sound. It's true that our export earnings, job growth and corporate balance sheets are better than other nations, and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development said last month that Canada will lead the G7 nations in economic recovery in 2010.

A lot, of course, depends on what happens to our neighbours to the south. A prolonged recession means that fewer Americans will be buying cars from Ontario or lumber from British Columbia.

During the last bubble, average prices of existing home in Toronto hit $280,000 in 1989 and took seven years to sink downward, hitting bottom in 1996 at $196,000 before taking off again in 1997.

No one expects this market to be as brutal, but then again, no one expected oil to be below $50 U.S. per barrel, and a Canadian dollar more than 20 per cent less than at the start of the year.

To see what's in store for this year, the Star asked some of the country's top economists what they thought 2009 would bring for the real estate market:

"The question is what kind of correction are we having?" asks Tal. "Are we seeing a U.S.-style meltdown, or simply a recessionary correction?"

Tal says that Canada never had a subprime problem in the league of the United States, which means a market correction here will be more moderate.

"What we have is the U.S. situation minus the subprime problem, which gives you Canada," says Tal. "It's not a freefall, but it will still be a recession.

"In that case it's reasonable to expect to see a notable decline in major cities."

Tal expects average prices across the country to fall another 10 to 12 per cent by the end of 2009.

"Is this a crisis? No. Is it pretty? Still no, and you will lose two years of price appreciation. But this is part of the economic cycle."

Tal predicts that there may be a slight uptick in sales in the spring but "nothing significant" as the market will continue to level off till the end of the year.

After 2009, he is forecasting that the market will "flatline" for three or possibly four years, with not much activity, similar to the 1992 to 1997 period in the Toronto market after the last real estate bubble burst.

The most immediate problem for the Toronto market is a potential oversupply of newly built condominiums, says the economist.

Condo pricing will lead the correction down, even as he expects some future supply to be cut as developers are unable to get financing for some projects. He is bullish on the condo market in the longer run of at least five to 10 years, because new immigrants and baby boomers still will be attracted to that form of housing, says Tal.

Carl Gomez
VP research, Bentall Capital

Canada's housing market is "modestly overvalued" with home prices needing to fall by as much as 25 to 30 per cent from the peak in Alberta and British Columbia, says Gomez.

Ontario prices, he figures, are about 10 per cent overvalued.

"The market is in correction phase, and the question is how far back will we continue to go?" asks Gomez.

Protracted job losses in the key Ontario market, for example, would mean further pain. And while manufacturing has been hit over the years, Toronto has been largely isolated from the problems because of its strong financial services sector, says Gomez.

"You are starting to see some problems in the services sector now. They have been a major driver of growth in Toronto, everything from banks to insurance companies to accountants and realtors. We haven't really seen this shoe drop yet, but if you see things coming off dramatically, then things will definitely get worse and prices will be pushed down further."

Like Tal, Gomez sees the most vulnerability in the Toronto condo market.

"In some pockets it's dominated by speculators. If they sense they are not getting the kind of return they want, they are the first to pull the plug," says Gomez.

Robert Hogue
Senior economist, RBC

The next few months will be significant to determine where the market is heading, says Hogue.

"But given the economic context where conditions have deteriorated quite significantly, you'd be hard pressed to see a quick recovery," he says. "For 2009 we will likely remain in a period of fairly soft sales and declining prices."

A housing affordability study prepared by Hogue shows that homes are becoming modestly more affordable in the Toronto market.

It takes 53.3 per cent of pre-tax earnings to afford a bungalow in the Toronto market. But that's still up from the long-term average of 48.3 per cent.

"That means you've got to have a decline in interest rates or prices of homes coming down to meet the long-term average."

Still, Toronto looks solid compared with some other Canadian cities, where the affordability index is 33 per cent higher than long-term averages for Vancouver and 40 per cent for Saskatoon.

An Impediment to Share Market Recovery?

When Israel moved into South Lebanon in 2006, oil price increased and share markets were slightly muted.

The markets have been rallying recently. A point to note is that the turnover volume of trades is still very small, which means there are fewer participants in the stock market. When there are fewer participants, it means prices can be easily controlled by market manipulators. So can this rally sustain?

Anyway, seems like even if OPEC is not able to revive the oil prices, a war can always help. Higher oil prices lead to higher expenses in this environment when demand is decreasing, leading to lower profit margin. Sounds just bad for certain companies?

Important: The objective of the articles in this blog is to set you thinking about the company before you invest your hard-earned money. Do not invest solely based on this article. Unlike House or Instituitional Analysts who have to maintain relations with corporations due to investment banking relations, generating commissions,e.t.c, SGDividends say things as it is, factually. Unlike Analyst who have to be "uptight" and "cheem", we make it simplified and cheapskate. -The Vigilante Investor, SGDividends Team