<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR>Windfall for some investors
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Yang Huiwen
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->The sharp upturn in the local stock market is bringing smiles to investors who had bought shares earlier at depressed prices.
Mr Aman Bajaj, 29, for instance, has made $40,000 within a few weeks.
The general manager of a food and textile firm, a first-time investor, started taking note of the stock market at the start of the year. Then, it was free-falling to its lowest level in almost six years.
The benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) plunged to 1,456.95 on March 9, with many blue chips hitting multi-year lows. Banking stocks DBS and United Overseas Bank, for instance, were at their lowest price-wise since 1999.
'It was just too cheap. I was actually prepared to hold on for the long term, but I cashed out along the way as there could be a correction in the market,' said Mr Bajaj, who bought shares of DBS when they were at $6.90. He cashed out at $10.40.
The stock traded as high as $12.42 last week.
He invested more than $55,000 in DBS and other stocks like offshore support services company Swiber Holdings and property developer CapitaLand. He has yet to cash out on some of these counters as he plans to keep them long-term.
With the profits made, he plans to go for a 'more extravagant holiday' in the Seychelles or Maldives with his family and save the rest to buy a condominium unit.
Over at UOB Plaza, the once sombre mood at the viewing gallery, a popular gathering place for punters and investors, has also taken a more upbeat turn.
One investor, who wanted to be known only as Mr Yee, is now $30,000 richer. 'I was very surprised, I didn't expect it at all,' said the 53-year-old, who is self-employed.
In March, he invested - he did not want to say how much - in mid- and small-cap stocks including Chinese shipbuilders Cosco Corp and Yangzijiang, as well as palm-oil company Indofood Agri-Resources.
Then, he felt 'the market had bottomed out already'.
He added: 'But it's very risky to hold on for too long, so I sold out quickly.'
He has since bought more shares and is waiting for prices to trend a little higher before cashing out.
However, not all investors are so lucky.
Remisiers said for every investor who made money, there will be one who got his pockets burnt in this rally.
'The market run-up caught many by surprise. Some investors didn't expect the rally to last for so long and shorted the market along the way up,' said remisier Alan Goh.
Additional reporting by Linette Lai
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Yang Huiwen
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->The sharp upturn in the local stock market is bringing smiles to investors who had bought shares earlier at depressed prices.
Mr Aman Bajaj, 29, for instance, has made $40,000 within a few weeks.
The general manager of a food and textile firm, a first-time investor, started taking note of the stock market at the start of the year. Then, it was free-falling to its lowest level in almost six years.
The benchmark Straits Times Index (STI) plunged to 1,456.95 on March 9, with many blue chips hitting multi-year lows. Banking stocks DBS and United Overseas Bank, for instance, were at their lowest price-wise since 1999.
'It was just too cheap. I was actually prepared to hold on for the long term, but I cashed out along the way as there could be a correction in the market,' said Mr Bajaj, who bought shares of DBS when they were at $6.90. He cashed out at $10.40.
The stock traded as high as $12.42 last week.
He invested more than $55,000 in DBS and other stocks like offshore support services company Swiber Holdings and property developer CapitaLand. He has yet to cash out on some of these counters as he plans to keep them long-term.
With the profits made, he plans to go for a 'more extravagant holiday' in the Seychelles or Maldives with his family and save the rest to buy a condominium unit.
Over at UOB Plaza, the once sombre mood at the viewing gallery, a popular gathering place for punters and investors, has also taken a more upbeat turn.
One investor, who wanted to be known only as Mr Yee, is now $30,000 richer. 'I was very surprised, I didn't expect it at all,' said the 53-year-old, who is self-employed.
In March, he invested - he did not want to say how much - in mid- and small-cap stocks including Chinese shipbuilders Cosco Corp and Yangzijiang, as well as palm-oil company Indofood Agri-Resources.
Then, he felt 'the market had bottomed out already'.
He added: 'But it's very risky to hold on for too long, so I sold out quickly.'
He has since bought more shares and is waiting for prices to trend a little higher before cashing out.
However, not all investors are so lucky.
Remisiers said for every investor who made money, there will be one who got his pockets burnt in this rally.
'The market run-up caught many by surprise. Some investors didn't expect the rally to last for so long and shorted the market along the way up,' said remisier Alan Goh.
Additional reporting by Linette Lai
