Sow My Seeds

Well-said by those who hold dividend paying bluechips, April/May is usually the time of the year they feel rich as dividends are paid out into their bank accounts. Thereafter, as far as I can remember, every year there's a history of a dip in May. Many say, "Sell In May and Go Away" with many theories in the market explaining why such a phenomenon occurs. To me, it's simply a wave of stocks going through the Ex-Dividend (XD) period starting from mid-April, sparking a sell-off by investors as there's no longer any incentive to hold their stocks after getting the dividends. This naturally leads to a wave of selling by other investors who thinks the market is dropping. Some swop counters, others cash out, sit and wait again, while others just  simply go away. 

While my take is that the current market is still generally an opportunist's one (on a long term outlook), my main message is that if you had just entered the market these few days, then do manage your expectations over the next few weeks as stocks go XD. History has, at best, served as a good guide. 

If you're one like me who's sitting at the sidelines waiting, then any dip in Apr/May after a stock's XD could pose an opportunity. Good luck with your timing, cos somehow or rather it's pretty much all about timing, isn't it? :)

Below are the bluechips in the STI that will be going XD in Apr/May 2016 (except UOL):

Stockname	XD Date	Dividend Amount	Mon 11/04/16 Opening Price	Indicative Yield % (for this round of dividend at Mon's opening price)
Capitaland	25-Apr-2016	SGD 0.09	SGD 2.99	3.01%
CityDev	3-May-2016	SGD 0.12	SGD 8.35	1.44%
ComfortDelGro	5-May-2016	SGD 0.05	SGD 2.85	1.75%
DBS	5-May-2016	SGD 0.30	SGD 14.94	2.01%
Golden Agri-Res	25-Apr-2016	SGD 0.00502	SGD 0.405	1.24%
Jardine C&C	12-May-2016	USD 0.51	SGD 39.60	1.73%
Keppel Corp	22-Apr-2016	SGD 0.22	SGD 5.79	3.80%
OCBC Bank	26-Apr-2016	SGD 0.18	SGD 8.75	2.06%
Sembcorp Ind	22-Apr-2016	SGD 0.06	SGD 2.94	2.04%
Sembcorp Mar	26-Apr-2016	SGD 0.02	SGD 1.585	1.26%
ST Engineering	25-Apr-2016	SGD 0.10	SGD 3.20	3.13%
Starhub	21-Apr-2016	SGD 0.05	SGD 3.30	1.52%
Thai Bev	6-May-2016	THB 0.46	SGD 0.72	2.38%
UOB	27-Apr-2016	SGD 0.35	SGD 18.38	1.90%
UOL	5-Sep-2016	SGD 0.15	SGD 5.84	2.57%
Wilmar	6-May-2016	SGD 0.055	SGD 3.37	1.63%