Saturday 25 October 2008

Reviving mainland housing market may require more measures

The slide in the mainland property market will not end any time soon despite new policies to encourage home purchases, and Beijing may have to come up with more support, industry experts say.

QDII funds bleed on heavy redemptions by jittery investors

The mainland’s overseas equity-based funds have seen their businesses beaten by the global stock market rout amid heavy cash withdrawals by investors in the third quarter.

Can A Horror Movie Have A Happy Ending?

Was this the stock market, or raw footage for Saw 6? Last week’s horror show seriously tested the notion that equities have bottomed. Amidst the carnage, the only thing missing was the guy in the pig mask.

Most Bank Shares Are Getting Unjustly Lashed

DBS is selling at just under nine times next year’s earnings, with an estimated dividend yield of 5% and a price-to-book ratio of 0.9 times, versus the 2.6 times it fetched at the height of the recent boom. Credit Suisse’s target is S$15.70 (about US$10.42), or 57% upside. If China, India and the rest of the region weather the global storm better than most pundits expect, bank shares should rebound smartly.

SGX Approaching 3.10?

DBS Approaching 8.11?

HSI Approaching 11,000?

Friday 24 October 2008

U.S. has plundered world wealth with dollars – China paper

The United States has plundered global wealth by exploiting the dollar’s dominance, and the world urgently needs other currencies to take its place, a leading Chinese state newspaper said on Friday.

2.7m Chinese to Lose Jobs

Estimate is said to be conservative

Singapore Shares End At Lowest Level In 5 Yrs; Outlook Grim

“Ours is a dead market. Whatever you go into, you’ll lose money,” said a dealer at a foreign bank.

Asia Ex-Japan Markets To Face 25% More Downside - Daiwa

0855 GMT [Dow Jones] Asia Ex-Japan markets could face another 25% downside from current levels if investors start pricing in global-recession scenario to companies” earnings projections, Daiwa says. Notes based on past cycles, if current economic malaise is just as damaging for Asia, EPS would fall 20%-30% vs AXJ markets” current implied 12-month forward EPS growth at 5%. Says “overly optimistic” earnings-growth forecasts are key risk, as valuations at rather undemanding 12-month forward PER of 9.8X vs low of 9X during 1988-89 recession and below PERs during Asian financial crisis, SARS period. “Given the year-to-date correction in Asian markets, we think there are many stocks that are attractively priced, especially if investors were to begin looking at oversold cyclicals.” Says China Mobile (0941.HK), Belle International (1880.HK), Esprit (0330.HK), Samsung Heavy Industries (010140.SE), SembCorp Marine (S51.SG) fit bill. (LES)

Japan’s Nissin recalls 500,000 noodles over insecticide fears

Japan’s Nissin Food Products Co. said Friday it was recalling half a million cups of instant noodles over fears of insecticide contamination in the latest food safety scare to rock the country’s consumers.

Up to 30 pct of hedge funds could close

Just when you thought the water is safe

Singapore Market Volatility Hard To Stomach

0706 GMT [Dow Jones] Traders in Singapore still struggling to stomach heightened market volatility despite sharp intraday falls on almost daily basis in recent sessions. “Ours is a dead market. Whatever you go into, you’ll lose money. There’s not much dealing going on, just lots of watching from the sidelines and licking wounds,” says foreign house dealer. “This month has been nothing but blood money, with margin calls after margin calls. If share prices come down further, there will be more margin calls again,” says local house trader. STI down 7.8% at 1609.95 vs 1661.60 at midday, with all components weak; increasingly at risk of going below 1600. (FKH)

Emerging Markets Could Get Uglier: 'Still Pretty Early Days' in Crisis

Japan's Poisoned "Cup Noodle" snack makes Japanese woman ill


Japanese talk shit and eat shit. Therefore, Japan deserved to be nuked till shit.

Thursday 23 October 2008

Ships Hit By Credit Crisis As Letters Of Credit Stall – Moody’s

Shippers look likely to be the latest casualties of the global credit crisis as banks grow increasingly wary of providing and honouring guarantees needed for transporting goods, potentially crimping international trade, Moody’s Economy.com Thursday warned in a report.

SAFE to Set up International Reserve Department

The State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) will replace the current reserve management department with an international reserves department with more detailed responsibilities, among which will be undertaking more macroeconomic research.

Can China keep up growth during financial crisis?

For three decades, China has fuelled its remarkable economic rise by becoming the world’s workshop and unleashing a flood of low-priced exports. But faced with a possible global recession and weakening demand for Chinese exports, the question now is whether the ruling Communist Party can prevent the financial crisis from derailing the country’s economic miracle.

China’s Home-Sales Stimulus May Fail to Protect Economic Growth

China’s measures to encourage home sales aren’t enough to stop a cooling property market from dragging down growth in the world’s fourth-largest economy, said Credit Suisse AG and Standard Chartered Bank Plc.

Wednesday 22 October 2008

Recession Will Last At Least Two Years: Roubini

The US economy is entering a two-year recession that will be longer and deeper than previously feared, said Nouriel Roubini, a well-known economist and professor at New York University.

Ugly men are a joy to have around

Handsome men may be good for your ego but he can also wreck your life.

CDO Cuts Show $1 Trillion in Corporate-Debt Bets Turning Toxic

Investors are taking losses of up to 90 percent in the $1.2 trillion market for collateralized debt obligations tied to corporate credit as the failures of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and Icelandic banks send waves through the global financial system.

Construction sector in for tough times

Industry hopes the Govt will resume deferred public-sector projects

Bankers asked to fly coach

Merrill Lynch , UBS and JPMorgan & Chase are telling senior bankers in Asia to fly coach on short-haul flights and reduce non-essential travel as they step up cost cuts, officials at the firms said.

Four Reasons Stock Market Hasn’t Reached Bottom Yet

The search of a market bottom likely will continue through the rest of the year and into 2009, as signs begin to emerge that a turning point is near but not yet upon Wall Street.

Treasury Sees US Economic Recovery in Late 2009

U.S. Treasury Undersecretary David McCormick said on Wednesday the U.S. economy is in for a challenging few quarters but could start to recover late next year.

Investors ponder legal suit

Lawyer says some hurt by Lehman collapse have sought him for help

Russia, Iran and Qatar Move Toward Forming Gas Cartel

Russia, Iran and Qatar made the first serious moves Tuesday toward forming an OPEC-style cartel on natural gas, raising concerns that Moscow could boost its influence over energy markets spanning from Europe to South Asia.

Global Decoupling is a Wish and not a Reality

Argentina Nowhere to Hide

First is Iceland, then Ukraine, follow by Pakistan. Now look at the Latin American market starting with Argentina

Daughter Demoted


Citic Pacific has demoted Frances Yung Ming-fong, daughter of its chairman Larry Yung Chi-kin, and cut her salary for her involvement in the unauthorised foreign-currency bets, managing director Henry Fan Hung-ling said yesterday.

Closure of toy factories was premeditated, say authorities

Guangdong authorities have described the closure of Hong Kong-listed Smart Union’s three factories in the province last week as a premeditated move that deliberately left workers and suppliers in arrears.

Screens go black as XP patches strike fakes


Anger at Microsoft anti-piracy move

20 Merrill Staff Here Let Go

Axe falls in last 2 days on those in the equity, fixed income and energy units

MGM, Sands, Boyd may be edging closer to bankruptcy

Any one of three major Nevada gaming companies based in Las Vegas could face the prospect of bankruptcy because of heavy debt and falling stock prices, a University of Nevada, Reno professor and gaming expert said.

Faber Says Stocks May Rally, Won’t Reach Records

U.S. stocks fell too far and may rally without setting records, investor Marc Faber said.

Tuesday 21 October 2008

Singapore’s Housing Plan May Haunt

Singapore’s real-estate market could find itself haunted by a plan that once served it well.

Taiwan DPP is a Piece of Shit


DPP's actions is a disgrace to democracy and rule of law. DPP supporters are nothing but a bunch of thieves and gangsters.

Singapore To Relax Mark-To-Market Accounting Rules

Stock Manipulation Probe Launched After Prices Spike

U.S. regulators are investigating whether investors manipulated end-of-day stock prices to avoid being forced by their brokers to sell holdings.

Economists React: China’s Growth Is Slowing, Not Slumping

Economists and others weigh in on China’s sharper-than-expected economic slowdown. The country’s GDP grew 9% in the third quarter from a year earlier, slower than the second quarter’s 10.1% gain.

Monday 20 October 2008

Super-cows to give mothers’ milk

Scientists use genetic engineering to produce human protein

FIRE SALE: OWNERS DUMP CONDOS

Agents: Some clients give as much as 20 per cent discount

Sunday 19 October 2008

Americans blamed for crisis

CHINESE state media on Sunday lambasted reckless US consumers addicted to spending money they don't have for being partly to blame for the current financial crisis, suggesting such a thing couldn't happen in prudent China.

US housing: far from bottom

THE falling US housing market, the trigger for the global financial crisis, is still far from reaching the bottom, promising more pain for consumers and more bad debt for banks, analysts say.

Crisis Catches Up With Delta

Bosses fear 2.5m working for HK firms to lose jobs by Lunar New Year