September is just around the corner. It is the month that has had some of the worst market crashes in history, so investors should take note, said Straits Times senior correspondent Goh Eng Yeow yesterday.
For one thing, events such as the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the United States in 2001 and the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008 happened in September, he noted.
"Markets also tend to react very badly to the US presidential cycle," said Mr Goh at the fourth askST talk held at the library@orchard.
About 240 people attended the free talk - the highest number for an askST talk so far.
The event is part of a series of 12 talks under the askST initiative, where readers can engage correspondents from the newspaper on topics ranging from finance to healthcare to education.
The series is a result of a partnership between The Straits Times and the National Library Board.
During yesterday's talk, Mr Goh noted that with the US presidential election currently in full swing, there is "a tendency for the market to crash" if the sitting president has served two terms lasting eight years. He also covered topics such as oil prices and Brexit.
Fielding a question on whether interest rates will increase in the next two years, Mr Goh was of the opinion that interest rates will stay low for a long time.
"The reason is we are all ageing and we tend to hold cash, so the banks have no inclination to give you higher interest rates," he said.
The problem with interest rates staying low is that, theoretically, the stock market should go up. But he said the issue now is that companies are in an earnings recession.
Among the audience was 33-year-old engineer Daniel Teh, who found the talk "very informative" as he invests in US stocks.
"Mr Goh managed to cover a range of topics from stocks to even Housing Board flats," said Mr Teh, who is married, and planning to buy an HDB flat soon.
The next talk will be on Sept 30, by correspondent Melody Zaccheus, who will talk about which local historic sites should be preserved.
The talk will also be held at the library@orchard. Registration will open a month before the talk.
Readers can e-mail questions to askst@sph.com.sg or submit them at www.straitstimes.com/askst.
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