Saturday, 18 October 2008

Private equity firms diversify to ride market dips

Gone were the days when it was possible to buy companies at realistic prices with cheap debt, and rely on balance-sheet restructuring and rising valuations to create equity value.

Banks may compensate victims of ‘mis-selling’

Focus on ‘vulnerable’ customers who bought Lehman-linked products

Sales of premium cars and sports models hit the brakes

When you are wealthy and worried about the current economic mess, you’re more than likely to immediately stop buying more jewellery, wine futures and yes, that new car too.

It looks more like the end of the beginning

A prominient businessman recently said of the US$700 billion US Treasury bailout plan that it didn’t mark the beginning of the end, but rather the end of the beginning.

Slippery Side-Bets That Hurt Casinos

It is not just the shadow of a downturn that the casinos have to ward off. It is also the spectre of side-betting. This practice is rampant in Macau, often carried out right under the nose of the casinos, and yet they are helpless to staunch the massive revenue haemorrhage.

Shang Says Beijing Will Roll Out Measures to Boost Stock Markets

The central government is planning undisclosed policy measures to boost its ailing equity markets and defuse mounting hostility from investors who have seen the value of their shares dive in recent weeks.

Shanghai Eyes Tax Breaks for Funds

Shanghai is considering tax and other incentives to lure venture capital, private equity and hedge funds to the nation’s financial hub, according to a senior city official.

Lehman Analysts Still the Best Despite Bust

Lehman Brothers Holdings may have gone bust but their analysts were unbeatable. For a sixth year, the now-bankrupt investment bank was home to Wall Street’s smartest stock market analysts, according to Institutional Investor magazine.

Credit Crunch Leaves Shipyards High and Dry

The credit crunch is taking a toll on mainland start-up shipyards, resulting in massive delivery delays, according to a report by global ship broker Clarkson.

Bank ‘War’ Ahead?

Savers could switch to foreign banks with higher returns but local banks are fighting back

What You Plant is What You Reap

Whatever You Give To Life, Life Gives You Back

Trader Takes Own Life Over Large Losses

An S&P 500 futures trader died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound just hours after losing several million dollars Wednesday, one of Wall Street’s most volatile days.

Buffett’s “Buy Now” Call Gets Lukewarm Reception

Warren Buffett tried to persuade demoralized investors the U.S. stock market is not falling off a cliff. Not everyone was immediately convinced.

Remember Bruce Lee



Friday, 17 October 2008

Recession May be Deepest Since 1970s

The U.S. economy is showing disturbing similarities to patterns seen in the painful recessions of the mid-1970s and early 1980s and it may be a year or more before it resumes anything near normal growth.

Woman pours excrement on ex-husband’s home

A woman in Shanghai splashed excrement all over her ex-husband’s residence after the man failed to make child support payments, according to a local newspaper.

China’s reform, opening up bring big change in people’s thinking

The biggest change brought about by China’s 30 years of reform and opening up is one in the thinking of the Chinese people, said David Lampton, professor from Johns Hopkins University, in a recent interview.

China’s Property Market Under Microscope

The central government is closely monitoring the property market after 18 cities including Shanghai launched various measures to arrest falling property sales, a senior official said Thursday.

Shanghai, Beijing auctions draw poor response from developers

Land put up for auction by the Shanghai and Beijing municipal governments has either been withdrawn or generated poor response as developers tightened their purses amid the global credit crunch.

Has the Dow hit the bottom yet? Analysts are divided

After two weeks of triple-digit swings and heavy losses, investors and market watchers are wondering just when the US bear market will hit bottom.

Has the Dow hit the bottom yet? Analysts are divided

After two weeks of triple-digit swings and heavy losses, investors and market watchers are wondering just when the US bear market will hit bottom.

Falling rents may take shine off S-Reits

SINGAPORE-LISTED real estate investment trusts, or S-Reits, are now finding favour with analysts.

Four S-share Firms Clarify Net Cash Positions

JES International, Sino Techfibre, China Hongxing, Synear give updates

High Volatility Making Oil Hedging Tough

Big oil consumers also face problem of fewer counterparties

E3, Sinomem unit may be facing corporate governance issues

Two more companies with principal operations in China may have stumbled over corporate governance issues.

A Black Mood Seizes Markets Worldwide

Gloomy outlook for major economies sends equities into violent tailspin

Different Regime for Overseas Firms?

Foreign listings pose challenges in regulatory enforcement and differences in applicability of Singapore company law

China sets out to move up the value chain

Transformation of industrial parks shows the way to the nation’s industrial upgrade

It’s in China’s own interest to help resolve global crisis

That is why China knows that it is in its own interest to extend a helping hand - if it can do so without serious damage to itself. On Oct 8, China joined six central banks, including the US Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank, in cutting interest rates.

STI Monthly


10-year old uptrend support under threat.

Shocked by the Harsh Realities

Why a 22% increase when oil is 33% cheaper?
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Asia long term uptrend resumes October 2009 or May 2010


Full report at Market News

More are dining at home

As the country faces its first recession since 2002, Singaporeans are changing their eating habits. More are opting for home-cooked meals in an effort to save money. When they eat out, people are choosing cheaper dishes like economy rice instead of long-time favourites like chicken rice.

Hedge Fund Carnage: ‘Invisible Catalyst’ Causing Big Market Moves


Few tears are being shed as the hedge fund community, once the new “masters of the universe”, are suffering through a big comeuppance.
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Credit Cards Could Become Next Trouble Spot in Crisis

Credit-card delinquencies are likely to become the next flashpoint in the credit crisis, though the impact on the overall economy won’t be as severe as the housing slump, analysts believe.
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Don’t Be Rushed Into Buying Stock

With major markets back at the levels of 1999, stocks may look like a bargain. They’re probably not.
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Home Prices Seem Far From Bottom

The American housing market, where the global economic crisis began, is far from hitting bottom.

Asia looks to its own consumers to bolster region’s economies

For years, Asians have been held up as an example to the world for their discipline in saving rather than spending. Now their leaders are trying to break them of that habit.
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Thursday, 16 October 2008

Shanghai companies eye Wall Street talent

Financial institutions in Shanghai are likely to start snapping up jobless Wall Street professionals by the end of this year.

CIC says US fund to return all its investment

China Investment Corp (CIC), which operates the country’s sovereign wealth fund, on Wednesday said it had given notice to the Reserve Primary Fund, a US money market fund, to withdraw all its investment before the latter’s suspension announcement.
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Home buyers get government support in Delta cities

New housing policies by governments in Shanghai and Hangzhou, two major cities in the Yangtze River Delta, will boost the sluggish market and make homes more affordable by giving breaks to home buyers and developers.

Fund market suffers from global crisis

China’s stock-oriented funds have tumbled more than 50 percent in the first three quarters, dragged down by fluctuating stock markets both at home and abroad, according to a report by Lipper fund research firm.
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Asia seething at IMF’s and West’s double standards

The US$2.5 trillion combined bailout of Western financial institutions may have eased the crisis, but it has done rather less to assure the creditor nations of the East that their holdings are safe from erosion by money-printing central banks. Indeed, events have aroused the resentment that surfaced during the Asian crisis a decade ago at a global financial architecture perceived, with some justice, to be weighted against Asians.

China urged to help bail out US financial system

Beijing should buy Treasury bonds before others, says investment bank
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Jade Saga Impacts Other Takeover Bids

Now, cash must be deposited with the financial institution

America’s ‘State Street’ and China’s Future

The crisis leading to a Wall Street rescue exposed market risks, but also tested our determination for continuing reform in China.
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Petitioners Describe Abuse in Secret Prison

Ma Xirong, had her first brush with a “black” jail when she was thrown into a stuffy room at the Juyuan Hotel in southern Beijing in March 2006.

Petitioners Being Held in ‘Black’ Jails, Activists Say

Rights groups claim secret prisons, or “black” jails, are sprouting up on the mainland in a campaign by regional authorities to purge petitioners.

SEC Extends Short-Sale Disclosure Order

Big investors will be required to disclose their short positions to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) under an interim final rule issued by the SEC on Wednesday night.

Cosco Singapore Responds to SGX Queries on Price Fall

It says no official notification of Cosco Dalian’s client filing for bankruptcy
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When Silence was Not Golden

COSCO Corp Singapore truly became a penny stock yesterday, with another tumble in its share price in what was an acute crisis of confidence.
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Can China’s Banks Survive the Financial Storm?

With signs of cracks appearing across China’s credit system, concerns are growing that the country’s banks may be ill-equipped to handle a drop in the Chinese economy.
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Suffering Asian Hedge Funds Look To Stem Redemptions

Asian hedge funds, already hurt by market volatility and newly-introduced short-selling restrictions, are now getting hit by a sharp uptick in redemptions.

Cosco - Daily


Has Cosco reached temporary bottom? Will it rebound to 1.18?

Singapore Property Developers, Trusts Fall on Outlook for Rents

CapitaLand Ltd. led Singapore’s developers and property trusts lower after Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said office and retail rents will decline amid the widening global financial crisis and an economic slowdown.

South Korea won suffers biggest loss in nearly 11 years

The South Korean won suffered its biggest daily loss against the dollar in almost 11 years on Thursday as local stocks tumbled on global recession fears and theforeign currency shortage in the local money market deepened.

The Essence of Leadership

View Video

Yanlord - Hourly


I think it will first test 0.910 tomorrow and then 0.985 again.

HK Has Fastest Buyers in Asia, Study Shows

Hongkongers, ready, set, buy. Compared with their Asian counterparts, shoppers here take the least time to make purchasing decisions, a study has found.
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Sex Video Toppled Vice-Mayor of Beijing

An hour-long sex tape secretly recorded by a mistress triggered the downfall of Beijing vice-mayor Liu Zhihua , it was reported yesterday.

Canton Fair exhibitors grumble as western buyers fail to turn up

It was only the first day, but this season’s Canton Fair did not appear to be pulling in enough buyers.
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Airbus to Delay Increase in Production

Airbus said Wednesday that it would delay an increase in the production of commercial planes because the global financial crisis might reduce passenger traffic and cause airlines to postpone taking deliveries.
Listen
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Chinese Exporters Feel the Pinch as Demand Slows

From manufacturers of chain saws to producers of stereo headphones, and makers of practically every product in between, exporters in China are running into trouble as demand slows in the United States and Western Europe.
Listen
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Signs of a Deeper Downturn in U.S.

Even as the U.S. government and its counterparts around the world readied an ambitious financial bailout, more signs emerged on Wednesday that the economic downturn had taken a darker turn in the United States.
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Falling Crude Prices Slow to Show up at European Pumps

European motorists are seeing only slowly the benefits of the collapse in prices of crude oil since July, but oil companies deny that they have been taking advantage of the drop to increase profit margins.
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Despite Slowdown, Chinese Automakers Resist Consolidation

A squealing of brakes in the Chinese car market, the second largest in the world, should be sending automakers there scrambling for mergers and alliances, but vested interests are thwarting consolidation.PDF

Next Victim of Turmoil: Americans’ Salaries

It is possible, for the first time in weeks, to imagine that the credit crisis may be about to ease. But one of the big lessons of the last year has been not to underestimate the severity of the economy’s problems. Those problems are not just about housing or Wall Street.
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China’s Trump Dragon sees solid growth in 2009 despite softer economy

Trump Dragon Distillers, a maker of traditional Chinese alcoholic beverages, sees solid profit growth in 2009 despite signs of a less robust economy as any slowdown won’t keep tipplers away from their favourite drink.
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“Day Of Disbelief” In Dry Bulk Market – FIS

[Dow Jones] Baltic Dry Index fall has gathered pace with Capesize average spot rates falling 29% to 5-year lows at $13,070/day yesterday and freight rates falling across all vessel classes in all regions. Freight derivatives broker FIS describes it as “day of disbelief” as BDI drops 10.7% to 1,615; but notes that further out dates on forward curve were steadier despite weakness in spot. “Although the nearby took a big hit, Cape paper (Forward Freight Agreements or FFAs) seemed fairly resilient on the deferreds despite the devastating losses on the index. The talk of zero seems more possible if we carry on like this, leaving bottom picking a risky business.” BDI index has dropped 86.3% from peak in May. (JAC)

Year-End Redemption Requests Loom Over Industry

Fourth-quarter disruptions seen as managers sell positions to raise cash

"Funds of funds are taking a short-term approach – if they're worried about redemptions, they will try to get out ahead of it," he added. "But good luck, because everyone is trying to get out of the same door."
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A $516 Trillion Derivatives ‘Time-Bomb’

The market is worth more than $516 trillion, (£303 trillion), roughly 10 times the value of the entire world’s output: it’s been called the “ticking time-bomb”.
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Most of Monday’s Gain in U.S. is Erased

U.S. stock markets plunged anew on Wednesday, nearly wiping out the record gains of Monday and sending another wave of wealth destruction washing over American households.
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Bernanke says U.S. Economy Facing Big Threat

Turmoil in credit markets poses a “significant threat” to the U.S. economy, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Wednesday, suggesting an openness to further interest-rate cuts.
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Relief Rally in Stocks Fizzles Out

Shares in Asia, Europe fall as gloom returns to markets

Shanghai, Hangzhou Ease Housing Loans

The city governments of Shanghai and Hangzhou are introducing measures to aid their slumping residential real estate markets, official media reported on Wednesday.
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No Outflow Seen from Local Banks Despite HK Guarantee

Depositors are staying put with local banks amid the turmoil in financial markets.

$100,000 Life Savings Gone


# Husband and wife run provision shop all their lives
# They put life savings in Lehman Minibonds in July
# Two months later, they get a call from the bank: ‘Your money is all gone.’
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Beijing’s Crisis Response Risks Making Things Even Worse

Charles Dumas is one of the small group of economists who saw the current financial crisis coming. Back in 2006, he published a book called The Bill from the China Shop in which he warned that the rapid build-up in American household debt would prove unsustainable and would lead to a credit crunch and a hard landing for the United States economy when the property bubble burst.
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China’s Smaller Firms Hit Hard by Global Credit Crisis, Weaker Economy

China has rolled back on its tight money policies but the move may be too late for many of the nation’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), hit hard by a deepening credit crisis and weakening global markets, analysts said.
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Clients’ Credit Woes Behind Bio-Treat Losses

The current credit crunch has claimed its second casualty among Singapore-listed China companies.
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Cosco Shares Sink on Analyst Downgrade

Higher risk of order cancellations, slower shipbuilding demand
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Ex-Jade Boss Rapped

Regulators also take his advisers – his lawyer and OCBC – to task
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Financial Crisis Haunts Milton Friedman’s Legacy

U.S. economist Milton Friedman, the champion of unfettered markets, is under siege for theories that some blame for unleashing the global financial crisis.
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Forgery Alleged in Jade’s Takeover Bid

A crucial funding document was a forgery, claims OCBC Bank
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Hedge Fund Managers Admit Errors

Many now adopt conservative stand to preserve capital, meet redemptions
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Roubini Sees Worst Recession in 40 Years, Stock Drop

Nouriel Roubini, the professor who predicted the financial crisis in 2006, said the U.S. will suffer its worst recession in 40 years, driving the stock market lower after it rallied the most in seven decades yesterday.
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Hedge Funds Target Corporate Lending as Banks Dry Up

An unprecedented cash crunch is choking the ability of banks to lend and creating an opportunity for hedge funds to launch, or ramp up corporate lending facilities.
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Is the Worst Over? Don’t Bank on it

Radical measures please investors, but recession or worse is still ahead
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China Property Owners Pin Hopes on New Policy Measures

Mainland property owners are pinning their hopes on a revival in prices on an expected new round of policy measures by the government to restore confidence among buyers who are now sitting on the sidelines because they fear there will be further declines in property values.
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Wednesday, 15 October 2008

Dry bulk trade will maintain growth: ICAP

Key drivers will be iron ore and coal for Asian power plants
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Still More Losses to Come, Says Volcker

Ex-Fed chief says slew of rescue measures distasteful but necessary
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Taking a Buddhist Pilgrimage in San Francisco


A block off Grant Avenue in San Francisco’s Chinatown - beyond the well-worn path tourists take past souvenir shops, restaurants and a dive saloon called the Buddha Bar - begins a historical tour of a more spiritual nature.
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COSCO Shipshape Despite Industry Downturn

China’s shipping giant China Ocean Shipping (Group) Company (COSCO) continues to expand its global business. Although slowing world output and falling commodities prices are affecting the shipping market, for Chinese shipping companies, times may be looking up.
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Can’t Take my Eyes off You


The Traffic police have stepped up their efforts to nab speed demons using laser cameras.
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Jade Investors Still Waiting for the Answers

Just over six months ago, the botched take-over of Catalist-listed Jade Technologies was reported to the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) by OCBC, the financial adviser to the offeror.
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Spine Chillers

More than four in five people will experience back pain at some point in their lives. What can you do about it?
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S-Shares Face More Earnings Downgrades

But ratings unlikely to be hurt as their valuations are already at extremely low levels
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Financial Crisis May Give Rise to New Era of Regulation

For 30 years, the U.S. political system has been tilted in favour of business deregulation and against new rules. But that is about to change, now that the government has been forced to intervene in the once highflying financial industry to avert an economy-wide crash.
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Steel Prices Plunge to 2008 Lowest Levels on Panic Selling

Prices of key steel products yesterday plunged to their lowest levels in 2008 on panic selling, as steel mills are unsure when end-user demand will pick up. We see more downside risk to prices. Avoid the sector.
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Bull Market in Commodities at an End, for Now

The global financial panic and the economic slowdown have put at least a temporary end to the commodity bull market of the last seven years, sending prices tumbling for many of the raw ingredients of the world economy.
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Upgrading the Stress Levels

As if the shoes-off routine, charges for checked bags and missed flight connections were not enough, business travellers now have to cope with a global financial crisis that is diverting their attention as well as rattling their contacts here and abroad.
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Tuesday, 14 October 2008

Economic slump may push shipping lines into bankruptcy, Marc Faber

The global economic slowdown will push some shipping lines into bankruptcy as demand for commodities cools and trade slows investor, Marc Faber said.
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Whose Cash Flow Pipeline is Choked?

Tips for investors to spot companies facing possible money woes
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Singapore launches contempt case over kangaroo picture

Singapore’s attorney general has launched legal action against three people who allegedly scandalised the judiciary by wearing pictures of a kangaroo wearing a judge’s gown, the government said Tuesday.
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Tycoons Take a Bath as Markets Run Dry


Most have seen the value of their stockholdings shrink dramatically
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Corporate Scandals Risk Big Blow to China Stocks

Concerns raised over quality of foreign listings, especially those from China
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Perks Cut for Singapore’s Expats

Employers pare costs as financial crisis ushers in new austerity drive.
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OCBC says censured on Jade’s botched takeover


Singapore’s Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp said on Tuesday the country’s securities body has found it in breach of takeover law for its role as an adviser on the failed acquisition of Jade Technologies.
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High-Flying Hedge Fund Falls Back to Earth

Only 10 months ago, Remy Trafelet was so flush that he treated about 100 employees at his hedge fund to a getaway in Venice. He and his crew spent a long, luxurious weekend at the five-star Hotel Bauer, which has Murano glass chandeliers, private gondoliers and a splendid view of a 17th-century basilica.
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Sovereign Funds Now Prefer Hoarding Cash to Rescuing U.S. Financial Firms

Don’t expect Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds to jump on the bailout bandwagon.
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Margin Calls Prompt Sales, and Drive Shares Even Lower

One firm’s senior wealth management executive said it was seeing people with $30 million in their brokerage account being completely wiped out within days. Weekly margin call lists have started swelling, this executive added.
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Half of China’s Toy Exporters Out of Business

The rising yuan along with escalating production costs, drove half of China’s toy exporters out of the market in the first seven months of this year, the General Administration of Customs said in a report Monday.
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Table tennis – Singapore coach quits over “insulting” offer

The man who helped deliver Singapore’s first Olympic medal in 48 years is set to quit as table tennis coach after rejecting an “insulting and insincere” new deal from the city-state.

Chinese Exporters Feel Pinch, Despite Figures

The latest statistics suggest the gathering global economic slump and credit crisis have not thrown wrenches into China’s export machine yet, but try telling that to Xu Xupeng.
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Cramer: This Market Can’t Be Trusted

It’s easy to feel confident when the Dow soars 938 points, but be careful, Cramer said, “This market simply cannot be trusted.”
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Dr. Doom: US Bailout Plan Will Probably Fail

U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson’s sweeping measures to bailout the financial system will probably fail, Marc Faber, editor & publisher of the Gloom, Boom and Doom Report, tells CNBC’s Asia Squawk Box.

“U.S. government bonds should be rated as a junk bond,” quips Faber.
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Funeral Industry Bucks Economic Downturn

Business is holding steady for the U.S. funeral industry as consumers shrug off worries about the economy to give their loved ones a costly send-off.
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U.S. Prepares $250 billion Bank Bailout

The Treasury could pump $250 billion into U.S. banks in what Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke called on Tuesday a comprehensive attempt to end the credit crisis, restoring market confidence and sending Tokyo stocks up 14 percent.
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Lawmaker Quits Beauty Contest


A Chinese lawmaker has quit a beauty contest after critics accused her of debasing politics by participating in the pageant, state media said yesterday.
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Trader's View of Market

“This is worse than a divorce. I’ve lost half my net worth and I still have a wife,” said one shell-shocked share trader at the end of the worst day on the stock market for twenty years.

China Property

Rumours on supportive policy package proposed by Ministry of Housing

Aussies May Curb Migrants

PM makes it clear the intake will be influenced by financial conditions
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China’s Grip on US Economy Grows

The US financial crisis may tighten China’s grip on the American economy, as Beijing is likely to purchase more US government securities using its ballooning foreign exchange reserves, experts say.
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Aussie dollars? No stock

Customers not selling; money changers say falling rate makes it unprofitable
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Wall Street Soars 11%


Wall Street stormed back from last week’s devastating losses on Monday, sending the Dow Jones industrials soaring a nearly inconceivable 936 points after major governments’ plans to support the global banking system reassured distraught investors.
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More Gloom for Emerging Markets

Emerging markets will face more gloom after suffering their worst quarterly loss in history as the global financial crisis starts to bite into their high-growth economies, private bankers in Asia warned Monday.
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In the Thai heartland, anger over protests in Bangkok

“They think differently from the people here in Isaan,” he said, referring to the rural heartland of Thailand’s northeast. “In Bangkok it’s all work and pressure, work and pressure. Not like here, where life is slower. Fish in the river, rice in the field.”
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Singapore PM, Lee Kuan Yew win defamation damages

Singapore leaders have sued or won damages in the past from foreign media groups including the Economist, International Herald Tribune and Bloomberg.
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Monday, 13 October 2008

Commodity bull Goldman turns bearish, warns on $50 oil

* Cuts year-end US oil forecast to $70, warns $50 possible
* Slashes 2009 average price forecast to $86 from $123
* Halves three-month view on copper to $3,500/T vs $7,960
* Cuts three-mo view on corn to $5 vs $6.50; see $6.50 wheat
* Maintains $740/ounce gold target on 12-month horizon
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Beijing Banker Blames Turmoil on West

Central bank deputy tells IMF to increase surveillance of industrialised economies
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Beijing Braves Rough Seas to Save Market

Amid the equity rout, the mainland is launching a practice banned overseas but investors are wary
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How to Spot Market Bottoms - Jim Cramer

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Investors Harbour High Hopes for Private Equity Deals

Investors are confident the mainland’s private equity market will expand over the next 12 months even as volatility batters the financial system, according to a Deloitte survey.
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HK: Luxury Rents to Decline Further on Trimmed Housing Allowances

Luxury residential rents are likely to continue falling as employers, particularly in the finance sector, cut back on housing allowances for senior executives next year in response to the troubled outlook for global markets.
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Mainland Recovery Tied to Mess in US, Europe

For the first time, the mainland joined an international co-ordinated rate cut last week, albeit not announced jointly. This is the second rate cut since the cut made a day after Lehman Brothers Holdings announced its bankruptcy. Both cuts coincided with global market events, but the real reason is a domestic economic slowdown and the evaporation of inflationary pressure from domestic and international sources.
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Blackstone Scraps 1.1b Yuan Shanghai Property Deal as Markets Worsen

A 1.1 billion yuan (HK$1.25 billion) Shanghai property deal has been scrapped by United States private equity fund Blackstone Group, while a second remains under a cloud because of worsening conditions in global credit markets and arguments over pricing, according to sources.
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DJ MARKET TALK: HSI +10.1%; Rebounding From Oversold Level - DBS

0746 GMT [Dow Jones] HSI +10.1% at 16,288.77, on rebound as market was heavily oversold, says Peter Lai at DBS. "We are just trying to find a reason to buy stock," he says. Notes HSI's current level looks very attractive for long-term investors. Tips index to remain in 14000-19000 range near-term. Amid crude price weakening, Sinopec (0386.HK) +17.5% at HK$5.65, Cathay Pacific (0293.HK) +7.1% at HK$10.60. Volume modest at HK$55.85 billion. (SUT)

Many Research Analysts are...

Ferrochina: A wake-up Call for Analysts

The failure of some to sound the warning bell has put their credibility on the line
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Finance Students Keep Their Job Hopes Alive

For students who set their sights on Wall Street during the boom years, the end has come just as they are getting ready to join the party.
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China a “White Knight” in Shining Armour for the U.S

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The Tipping Point

Soon after, customers began tipping in London coffeehouses and other commercial establishments. One frequented by Samuel Johnson had a bowl printed with the words “To Insure Promptitude,” and some speculate that “tip” is an acronym for this phrase.
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Stock Traders: It’s the Ugliest Market Ever Seen

“A lot of smashed telephones,” said Charlie Felten, a technician for the New York Stock Exchange – as many as three or four a day.
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Those Knowing History May Find It’s Time to Invest

The four most dangerous words for investors are: This time is different.
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Roubini Argues for Further Rate Cuts

Nouriel Roubini, the professor who predicted the financial crisis two years ago, believes world financial officials should orchestrate interest rate cuts of at least 1.5 percentage points to help avert a depression.
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Sunday, 12 October 2008

White House Overhauling Rescue Plan

As international leaders gathered here on Saturday to grapple with the global financial crisis, the Bush administration raced to overhaul its own strategy for rescuing the foundering financial system.
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Dow roller-coaster notches up biggest ever daily points swing in frenzy of trading

The Dow Jones Industrial Average went through its biggest ever points swing in a day on Friday as US stocks fell for an eighth straight day.

Tell-All Trial for a Real Estate Kingpin

Prosecutors say bribery was a source of cash and luxury apartments for ex-Shanghai official Kang Huijun and his wife.
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Financial Crisis: Darling Ready to Take Control of Banks

Banking shares across the G7 nations could be suspended tomorrow as governments mount a desperate effort to implement rescue packages designed to repair the battered global financial system.
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Safeguarding China in a U.S. Bailout

China should protect its investments and seek higher returns if T-bond purchases factor into a Wall Street rescue.
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Bernanke Paulson Plan

Four in 10 Singaporeans Marry Foreigners

Globalisation creating more chances for locals to meet, tie the knot with non-citizens
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Switching to Cash May Feel Safe, but Risks Remain

It’s a question we’ve all asked in our darker moments of late: Why not just put all of our investments in cash, 100 percent, just for a little while, until things calm down?
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How China’s richest woman Yang Huiyan lost two thirds of her fortune as markets crashed


For China’s richest woman, the global financial crisis has been nothing short of a disaster.
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10 (More) Reasons You’re Not Rich

Here are 10 more possible reasons you aren’t rich:
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Markets to Fall 20% More at Most: IMF Economist

In a worst-case scenario, markets could fall at most another 20 percent but there is “practically zero” chance of another Great Depression, the International Monetary Fund’s chief economist Olivier Blanchard was quoted as saying on Saturday.

China Eastern Close to Gaining Control of Shanghai Airlines

It’s been rumored that the Shanghai city government has approved China Eastern Airline’s acquisition of Shanghai Airlines, expanding China Eastern’s already largest market share in the region.
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Paul Krugman: Moment of truth

They’d better do something soon - in fact, they’d better announce a coordinated rescue plan this weekend - or the world economy may experience its worst slump since the Great Depression.
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China Printing Seeks Trading Suspension

CEO, deputy CEO not contactable; parent company faces bankruptcy
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Public Offerings Tap Running Dry


This year, only 29 new listings have come onto the market.
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Trading in Ferrochina Stock Halted Indefinitely - ST

Steelmaker was made insolvent after being unable to repay loans
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Former VW Dealer Seeks Compensation


Peeved that a company that he once owned 49 per cent of, ‘and which we helped build’, was treating him this way, he paid up - in cash. All in $2 bills that filled two suitcases.
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