IT IS interesting to note that the Lim Family, which controls the Genting casino in Malaysia, has decided to sell their entire 9 per cent direct stake in Genting International here in Singapore.

The sum involved is not to be sneezed at – about $614.9 million – going by the sale price of 72 cents for 854 million shares reported to the Singapore Exchange this morning.

This makes the sale the second largest deal in a week which also saw Keppel Corp selling off its 44.5 per cent stake in Singapore Petroleum Company for $1.67 billion.

The Lim family will continue to control Genting International through its KL-listed flag-ship firm, Genting Bhd.

But the sale will certainly galvanise further debate of the current stock market rally’s sustainability, since major players seem to be making hay in the sun by getting out of the game altogether.

When it hit an intra-day high of 91 cents yesterday, the stock had swung back to a level last seen two years ago, when market conditions were euphoric and the firm was on a winning streak after winning the bid for the Sentosa integrated resort.

But as the headline of a OCBC Research report suggested yesterday, investors might simply be placing their bets too early – as they gambled on the optimism which would surround the opening of the Sentosa resort only next year.

"Genting’s UK operations could continue to languish, given the dismal economic picture there…and realistically, we think that the turnaround would probably come in 2011," it added.

In the meantime, it observed that the stock had surged 120 per cent from a low of 41 cents in February.

But with the placement news, Genting International has fallen 16 per cent in the space of two hours.

I suppose the lesson to be learnt here is that if the story is too good to be true, it is better to take it with a pinch of salt.