Temasek SWF Sells US, Buys China

05/18/09 Baltimore, Maryland Temasek, a Singaporean sovereign wealth fund, sold its entire stake in Bank of America. Heh… ouch!

The state-owned fund declined to comment on the specific sell price, for good reason. Not only did Temasek lose an estimated $4.6 billion on the BoA/Merrill Lynch investment, but the nature of their SEC filing insists they sold their shares before March 31. In other words, they missed out on most of the “bull market” in financials over the last six weeks. Since they sold, shares of BoA are up 66%.

(Note to Temasek fund managers: It’s really never too late to consider a career change. Everybody needs a good bartender.)

Based purely on the horrific timing of Temasek’s investing, both at the entry and exit, we’re forced to wonder… could Bank of America be near a bottom?

Also of interesting note, Temasek used what little money was left to buy shares of China Construction Bank… which perks our short interest in Chinese banks even more.

As SWFs jettison their bank shares, Warren Buffett is scooping them up. Berkshire Hathaway’s latest 13-K revealed hefty purchases in Wells Fargo (a longtime Buffett favorite) and US Bancorp. The world’s most famous investor also picked up shares of Johnson & Johnson and Burlington Northern. He sold sizable chunks of Constellation Energy, ConocoPhillips and CarMax.

Ian Mathias

Ian Mathias is managing editor of The 5 Min. Forecast.  We discovered Ian working as a full time rock climbing guide and writing on the side. As it turns out, markets and global economics can be extreme too… at least enough to keep him around. Since working for Agora Financial, respected media outlets including Forbes.com, the Associated Press, Yahoo, and MSN Money have syndicated his writing. He received his BA from Loyola College in Maryland and is currently studying writing at the graduate level.

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