<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>Spread -ve rumours and then whack the stocks down like nobody's biz, knowing full well that Ass Loon and co. chor boh lan and are only interested to take care of their Familee members' pockets first. Perhaps, they even know that they are too weak to act after their massive punting losses!
The signs are there. Watch out!
Keppel T&T's share price dives by
44%
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Goh Eng Yeow
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->JITTERY investors and souring market sentiment combined to send Keppel Telecommunications & Transportation (Keppel T&T) shares plunging a staggering 43.9 per cent yesterday.
The stock lost $1.02 billion in market value after falling to a 15-month low of $2.35 - all in the face of the company stating that it had no fresh developments to disclose.
In normal times, such a disclosure to the Singapore Exchange would have been taken to mean that it was business as usual and bargain-hunters would have moved in to snap up shares.
But these are far from normal times. Investors are unsettled by fears that a plan to bail out the United States financial system was in jeopardy and they were not going to take any chances with Keppel T&T.
So rather than end up trying to catch a 'falling knife', they hid on the sidelines as Keppel T&T shares were dumped on the open market.
Brokerage CIMB-GK said in a note to clients there were rumours circulating that there was 'forced selling of a major shareholder's stake'.
Dealers said that this could have been due to a margin call, triggered by a 15.8 per cent drop in Keppel T&T between Monday and Thursday.
This forced investors, who pledged Keppel T&T shares as collateral for loans, to come up with fresh money to 'top up' their margin accounts.
It appears they were unable to do so and the bank had to forcibly sell the shares in the open market to cover the shortfall in the value of the loan collateral.
What aggravated the steep drop in Keppel T&T's price was a lack of demand for the shares.
For the past three months, only about 909,000 shares have changed hands daily although volume surged to 5.1 million yesterday.
Keppel T&T's latest annual report shows that its biggest shareholder is Keppel Corp with an 80.27 per cent stake.
Next is Kapital Asia with 9.19 per cent.
The report also named two individuals - Mr Agus Anwar and Mr Marcel Tjia Han Liong - as Kapital's controlling shareholders.
It came as a shock to many investors that a well-run company like Keppel T&T could be the subject of such a ferocious bear raid.
=> FTrash create jobs? More like they're creating a financial crisis!
The company reported a 1.9 per cent jump in net profit to $11.57 million for the second quarter ended June 30. Its biggest asset is a 19.9 per cent stake in telco MobileOne.
The signs are there. Watch out!
Keppel T&T's share price dives by
44%
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Goh Eng Yeow
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->JITTERY investors and souring market sentiment combined to send Keppel Telecommunications & Transportation (Keppel T&T) shares plunging a staggering 43.9 per cent yesterday.
The stock lost $1.02 billion in market value after falling to a 15-month low of $2.35 - all in the face of the company stating that it had no fresh developments to disclose.
In normal times, such a disclosure to the Singapore Exchange would have been taken to mean that it was business as usual and bargain-hunters would have moved in to snap up shares.
But these are far from normal times. Investors are unsettled by fears that a plan to bail out the United States financial system was in jeopardy and they were not going to take any chances with Keppel T&T.
So rather than end up trying to catch a 'falling knife', they hid on the sidelines as Keppel T&T shares were dumped on the open market.
Brokerage CIMB-GK said in a note to clients there were rumours circulating that there was 'forced selling of a major shareholder's stake'.
Dealers said that this could have been due to a margin call, triggered by a 15.8 per cent drop in Keppel T&T between Monday and Thursday.
This forced investors, who pledged Keppel T&T shares as collateral for loans, to come up with fresh money to 'top up' their margin accounts.
It appears they were unable to do so and the bank had to forcibly sell the shares in the open market to cover the shortfall in the value of the loan collateral.
What aggravated the steep drop in Keppel T&T's price was a lack of demand for the shares.
For the past three months, only about 909,000 shares have changed hands daily although volume surged to 5.1 million yesterday.
Keppel T&T's latest annual report shows that its biggest shareholder is Keppel Corp with an 80.27 per cent stake.
Next is Kapital Asia with 9.19 per cent.
The report also named two individuals - Mr Agus Anwar and Mr Marcel Tjia Han Liong - as Kapital's controlling shareholders.
It came as a shock to many investors that a well-run company like Keppel T&T could be the subject of such a ferocious bear raid.
=> FTrash create jobs? More like they're creating a financial crisis!
The company reported a 1.9 per cent jump in net profit to $11.57 million for the second quarter ended June 30. Its biggest asset is a 19.9 per cent stake in telco MobileOne.
