Despite retreating oil prices, volatility and uncertainty continued to permeate global equity markets.

Anxiety over the health of the US financial sector kept the bulls on the sidelines. The closing of First National Bank of Nevada and First Heritage Bank of California as well as renewed writedowns by Merrill Lynch served as clear warnings that the sub-prime problems are still very much alive.

On a brighter note, oil prices took a breather over the past fortnight, falling below US$125 per barrel on speculation that fuel demand in Asia and the US may slow after near-record prices. Companies that are expected to reap the benefits of receding oil prices include transportation plays such as Singapore Airlines and Neptune Orient Lines.

Do also keep a close watch on the chemical fibre companies, including Fibrechem Technologies, China Sky Chemical Fibre and Li Heng Chemical Fibre, whose raw material costs are directly correlated with oil prices. Having been hammered to rock-bottom valuations, these counters could receive a much-needed boost should the price of black gold continue to ease.

In this issue, we will be featuring two companies that are flying under the radar of analysts and investors albeit being fundamentally sound. They are Sky One Holdings, which is taking a larger bite out of China’s fast-expanding logistics sector, and FM Holdings, a possible new entrant in the promising coal industry.

Meanwhile, readers with a predilection for dividends might want to flip to our story on Lippo-Mapletree Indonesia Retail Trust, which is currently trading below its net asset value and has recently announced a better-than-forecasted distribution per unit.

As for our education series, we will be applying the various concepts of fundamental analysis that have been introduced in previous issues. Together with our publication’s new ‘Research’ feature, which summaries the total number of Buy, Hold and Sell recommendations from major brokerages, their respective average target prices as well as forecasted earnings per share figures, investors should be better equipped to make intelligent investment decisions.