Good evening.

Welcome to CRAAKED #0004.

Here are the Singapore money stories worth your attention this week.

Some of Singapore’s biggest stocks are about to become easier to buy.

From 5 October, SGX will shrink the standard board lot for qualifying securities priced above S$10. Those priced above S$10 and up to S$100 will move from 100 units to 10, while those above S$100 will move to just one.

The first change covers 11 stocks that accounted for 35% of trading activity in the first half of 2026.

SGX says the move is aimed at lowering barriers for retail investors.

The useful bit is flexibility. Instead of having to buy 100 shares at a time, investors will be able to put smaller amounts into higher-priced counters — making it easier to spread their money across more stocks.

What happens if AI eventually makes us more productive — but pushes costs higher first?

This 22-minute WealthBT podcast has Genevieve Cua speaking with Pictet Wealth Management’s Kelvin Tay about emerging markets, higher bond yields and four ways of approaching AI.

The interesting bit? Pictet expects AI’s big productivity gains to take several years, while semiconductor shortages could keep inflationary pressure around until 2029 or 2030.

The episode was produced in collaboration with Pictet Wealth Management, so treat the forecasts as Pictet’s views rather than neutral predictions.

Listen: Investing in an era of AI, techflation and higher bond yields

Duration: 22 mins

DBS, OCBC or UOB?

The Smart Investor put Singapore’s three big banks side by side — and there isn’t one winner on every measure.

DBS leads on return on equity at 17.9%, versus 13.7% for OCBC and 11.6% for UOB. But DBS also trades at 3.1 times book value, compared with 2.2 times for OCBC and 1.3 times for UOB.

That’s the more useful comparison: DBS leads on profitability, but investors are already paying a much higher valuation for it.

Singapore could make room for more data-centre capacity beyond the 300MW outlined in its Green Data Centre Roadmap.

MDDI says additional capacity could come from new data centres or upgrades to existing ones, with expansion taking place in a “measured and sustainable” way.

AI may live in the cloud, but the infrastructure behind it doesn’t. More AI ultimately means more demand for very physical things: data centres, chips, cooling and power.

MILLION-DOLLAR DIVIDE
A record 201 HDB flats sold for at least S$1 million in August — the first time the monthly tally has crossed 200.

But 99.co’s figures show what the headline misses: those flats accounted for just 8% of resale transactions.

Overall HDB resale prices rose only 0.1% from July and were 0.5% lower than a year earlier.

So yes, million-dollar HDBs are becoming more common. But 92% of resale flats sold in August still changed hands for less than S$1 million.

RETAIL LOSES STEAM
Singapore’s retail sales grew 1.5% year on year in July, slowing from 4% in June and coming in below economists’ 3.1% median forecast.

The Business Times reports that seven of 14 retail categories still recorded year-on-year growth, while seasonally adjusted sales actually rose 0.9% from June.

The headline number slowed sharply. Underneath it, the picture was more mixed.

GOING ONCE...
Another 14 luxury apartments and one Grade A office forfeited in Singapore’s S$3 billion money-laundering case are heading to auction.

The one that caught our eye: a 6,727 sq ft, four-bedroom penthouse at South Beach Residences with a guide price of S$25.32 million.

Going once...

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