INTELLIGENCE reports. Unemployment statistics. National-security estimates. Political polls. World leaders sure have their hands full digesting reams of data. The next US president should add this to his must-read list: the Federal Reserve’s H.4.1 table.
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Saturday, 30 August 2008
Is Gold about to decouple?
Gold has moved with the € and in the opposite direction to the US$ for months now. The main reason is because U.S. Investors have linked the performance of the $ to the € as a true reflection of the $ currency value. Of course this implies that the € is the defining currency against which to measure the performance of the $. But is that even reasonable? We think not.
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Hands-on mums ‘the best tutors’
Fire Bernanke, Hire Trichet: Jim Rogers
Friday, 29 August 2008
West's White Trash Hypocrisy
When you criticise China, it's called freedom of speech. When you praise China, you lose your job.
A Chinese woman working at Germany’s DW-Radio has been suspended from her job following remarks she made in the media on human rights and other issues in China, the German press has reported.
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A Chinese woman working at Germany’s DW-Radio has been suspended from her job following remarks she made in the media on human rights and other issues in China, the German press has reported.
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Orchestra admits ‘miming’ at Sydney Olympics in 2000
Be the Reason for Somebody’s Happiness
The most beautiful thing is to see a person smiling. And even more beautiful is knowing that you are the reason behind it!
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Thursday, 28 August 2008
Economy’s Surprise Growth Isn’t Expected to Continue
The economy shifted to a higher gear in the spring, growing at its fastest pace in nearly a year as foreign buyers snapped up U.S. exports and tax rebates spurred shoppers at home. But economists don’t expect the sudden surge to last.
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Pope angry over crucified green frog sculpture
Shanghai police to shame jaywalkers on television
Shanghai police will post photographs and videos of jaywalkers in newspapers and on television in a bid to shame them out of breaking traffic rules, local media reported on Thursday.
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Buffet Rumours Trigger A-share Tremors
The rumour that vastly successful US investor Warren Buffet，worshiped the “God of Investment” in China, planned to sink $500 million into a Chinese company, but was refused, has triggered a round of speculation in China’s stock market, pushing some companies’ share prices up despite the slumped market. It seems China’s A-share investors are now sensitive to any news or rumours.
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Asian debt offerings facing a global crisis of trust
An expected deluge of Asian debt offers in September runs the risk of turning into a mirage as issuers grapple with a severe global crisis of trust.
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Mainlanders see prestige value in HK
Wednesday, 27 August 2008
Polygamy is the key to a long life
Want to live a little longer? Get a second wife. New research suggests that men from polygamous cultures outlive those from monogamous ones.
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Life is short. Have an affair to prolong life?
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Life is short. Have an affair to prolong life?
Tuesday, 26 August 2008
Govt defends A-G’s stand
Law Minister reiterates that 'not guilty in law' does not mean 'innocent'
This is a classic case of schizophrenic between the executive and the legislature.
When in parliament, the ministers discuss and set laws which are fair. They should not mix up their roles as "government" because otherwise you have a situation where you set laws OR not to set laws to make sure that the governing part is protected.
They should put on the hat of parliamentarians and comment on whether such a law would be fair or not. Keep the government outside parliament.
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This is a classic case of schizophrenic between the executive and the legislature.
When in parliament, the ministers discuss and set laws which are fair. They should not mix up their roles as "government" because otherwise you have a situation where you set laws OR not to set laws to make sure that the governing part is protected.
They should put on the hat of parliamentarians and comment on whether such a law would be fair or not. Keep the government outside parliament.
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Why Can’t Chinese Cars Compete Internationally?
Since the beginning of 2008, with raw material costs and oil prices rising constantly and “made in China” moving into cooler weather, the Chinese car market has caught a cold and domestic brands are the biggest sneezers.
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Time to track accuracy of analyst calls
IN RESPONSE to a call made last week in this column (BT, Aug 19, ‘Include analyst information in research reports’), a reader wrote in to say he would be compiling data pertaining to analyst performance over the next 12 months to see just how many recommendations actually achieve their target prices, and that once the study is complete, it would be offered for publication in BT.
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Libor Signals Credit Seizing as Banks Balk at Lending
Aug. 25 (Bloomberg) -- Most of the bond strategists and salesmen that Resolution Investment Management Ltd.’s Stuart Thomson talked to last August expected the credit crunch to be long over by now. Instead, money markets show there’s no end in sight, and it may even worsen.
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Axis of Evils
“An evil exists that threatens every man, woman and child of this great nation. We must take steps to ensure our domestic security and protect our homelands.”
Adolf Hitler / George Bush
Adolf Hitler / George Bush
Monday, 25 August 2008
Who really owns Federal Reserve?
I am a most unhappy man. I have unwittingly ruined my country. A great industrial nation is now controlled by its system of credit.
We are no longer a government by free opinion, no longer a government by conviction and the vote of the majority, but a government by the opinion and duress of a small group of dominant men.
Woodrow Wilson - 1919
Giving people space to let off steam
Tight controls on politics and the Internet are being loosened, giving hope for multi-party democracy in a nation long used to the ruling PAP’s hold on power.
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Why the West is disappointed with Beijing Olympic 2008?
“Before the start of the Games, there were a lot of doubts about Beijing’s ability to host the biggest sports extravaganza in the world - pollution, hygiene conditions, transport and spectators were all concerns,” Mr Fok said. “But at the end of the day, these people witnessed the most successful Olympic Games ever.”
With no screw up to criticise, the West has to resort to the old human rights theme again. So predictable.
With no screw up to criticise, the West has to resort to the old human rights theme again. So predictable.
Interview with Jim Rogers
That’s one of the advantages of Singapore. The place has an astonishing amount of wealth and only 4 million people. So even if it started squandering it in 2008, which they may be, it’s going to take them forever to do so.
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Sunday, 24 August 2008
China’s Excess Liquidity Trap
China’s the boss, and it’s not even close
Not time for bottom fishing
‘Made in China’ brand reaps Olympic dividend
BEIJING (AFP) - The Olympics had a negligible direct impact on China’s economy, but analysts say the near flawless organisation of the Games was a priceless 17-day advertisement for the “Made in China” brand.
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Saturday, 23 August 2008
China plans new share sale system
(SHANGHAI) Chinese securities regulators, seeking to support the stock market, plan to introduce a new system for sales of shares made tradable by the expiry of lock-up periods, the 21st Century Business Herald reported yesterday.
The system is likely to be announced soon after this month’s Beijing Olympics, the newspaper reported.
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The system is likely to be announced soon after this month’s Beijing Olympics, the newspaper reported.
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Strategist: Don’t buy equities yet
‘Technically, we’re in dangerous territory, having broken past previous index level lows,’ he said of Asian markets.
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Warren Buffett says 'game is over' for Freddie and Fannie
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two largest mortgage finance companies, "don't have any net worth," the billionaire investor Warren Buffett said.
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Friday, 22 August 2008
China attracts more US college students
There are almost certainly at least 10,000 US students now enrolled annually in programs in China, up fivefold from a decade ago. China is the seventh most popular destination for US students, according to the Institute of International Education. But it’s growing so quickly that, if trends continue, it will soon pass countries like Britain, Spain and Italy and become the most popular.
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Li Ka-Shing says ‘worst is yet to come’ in global economy slump
(HONG KONG) Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing, who predicted China’s stock market bubble would burst, says the ‘worst is yet to come’ from the global credit crunch.
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Thursday, 21 August 2008
How did Merrill Lynch miss the red flags?
Singapore’s Temasek Courts Disaster
Wednesday, 20 August 2008
Hua Guofeng dies
BEIJING (AP) — Hua Guofeng, who briefly ruled China as communist founder Mao Zedong's successor but was pushed aside as a prelude to reforms that launched an economic boom, died Wednesday at the age of 87, state-run media reported.
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Don't codeswitch to Singlish, please
IT MAY seem like good manners to turn on the Singlish when communicating with a countryman who can speak only the patois, but think again.
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Tuesday, 19 August 2008
Marc Faber comment on US of A
Dr. Marc Faber concluded his monthly bulletin (June 2008) with the Following:
"The federal government is sending each of us a $600 rebate. If we spend that money at Wal-Mart, the money goes to China. If we spend it on gasoline it goes to the Arabs. If we buy a computer it will go to India. If we purchase fruit and vegetables it will go to Mexico, Honduras and Guatemala. If we purchase a good car it will go to Germany. If we purchase useless crap it will go to Taiwan and none of it will help the American economy. The only way to keep that money here at home is to spend it on prostitutes and beer, since these are the only products still produced in US. I've been doing my part."
"The federal government is sending each of us a $600 rebate. If we spend that money at Wal-Mart, the money goes to China. If we spend it on gasoline it goes to the Arabs. If we buy a computer it will go to India. If we purchase fruit and vegetables it will go to Mexico, Honduras and Guatemala. If we purchase a good car it will go to Germany. If we purchase useless crap it will go to Taiwan and none of it will help the American economy. The only way to keep that money here at home is to spend it on prostitutes and beer, since these are the only products still produced in US. I've been doing my part."
FerroChina Neckline Breakdown
FerroChina broke the neckline support at 1.02. 1) ML has been selling down with huge volume from 1.18 to 1.03, 2) many positions bought 1.20-1.30 and 3) potential margin calls underway, don't rule out hitting 0.840.
SSE Weekly
My target for SSE at 2200 almost reached this morning at 2284. Almost everybody is saying China's economy will tank together with her SSE after the Olympic Games.
But I take an opposite view that SSE will recover after the Olympic Games. Perhaps, SSE is building a base around 2200 and start to move up next week when the Olympic Games end?
Global recession will drive down energy prices by 30%
The probability is growing that the global economy – not just the United States – will experience a serious recession. Recent developments suggest that all G7 economies are already in recession or close to tipping into one.
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Monday, 18 August 2008
Diversify your portfolio but choose carefully
Adding a different kind of investment exposure to a portfolio may help to diversify it, but the question is - what kind of exposure is good for that purpose? One good strategy is to find an investment with a “low correlation to the global equity market” - in other words, an investment that moves in the opposite direction to global equities. Fund houses are touting this quite a bit nowadays, but are these really good for diversification? Investors can tell from the corresponding correlation coefficients.
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Commodity prices likely to rebound
Crashing commodity prices have once again given ammunition to sceptics who believe the boom of recent years was a blip, but that view underestimates the demand and economic growth in the emerging world.
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Saturday, 16 August 2008
Hot Money Scapegoated for A-share Market Nosedive
China’s A-share market has plummeted over 10% in the week since the opening of the Olympic Games, and many investors are wondering if hot money is short selling A-shares. Since the middle of October last year, the A-share market has dropped by 60%.
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David Stevenson: Go on the defensive to avoid fate like Japan’s
A disturbing thought has been dogging me: we may not be about to enter a “normal”, cyclical bear market of 25 to 30 per cent losses, but may instead endure a bear market akin to Japan’s, where returns on equity are pounded down as successive waves of rallies are consumed in a wider sense of gloom and re-rating.
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Monday, 11 August 2008
Sunday, 10 August 2008
Hedge funds brace for more heat after record losses
Hedge funds are braced for more dire performance data after sharp reversals in commodities and financials last month pushed some funds to record losses - making the goal of positive returns for the year even harder to reach.
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Saturday, 9 August 2008
UN chides media ‘frenzy’ over Beijing smog
BEIJING - THE United Nations’ environment boss has rebuked global media for a 'frenzied focus' on Beijing’s pollution and ‘amnesia’ over past hosts’ similar problems.
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Thursday, 7 August 2008
清明上河圖
Along the river during the Ching-Ming Festival
This painting was originally painted during the Northern Song Dynasty, 1085-1145. It was repainted again during the Qing Dynasty. It is measured 528cm in width and 24.8cm in height. It is considered as one of the Great Treasure of China and was exhibited in the Hong Kong Museum of Art last year.
Take your time and walk through this painting which stretches across some length. At each of the three white boxes, click your mouse within the box and you will be amazed.
View the painting here
This painting was originally painted during the Northern Song Dynasty, 1085-1145. It was repainted again during the Qing Dynasty. It is measured 528cm in width and 24.8cm in height. It is considered as one of the Great Treasure of China and was exhibited in the Hong Kong Museum of Art last year.
Take your time and walk through this painting which stretches across some length. At each of the three white boxes, click your mouse within the box and you will be amazed.
View the painting here
Wednesday, 6 August 2008
You Can’t Control Animal Spirits
Tuesday, 5 August 2008
HSBC warns on credit crisis in Asia
HSBC on Monday warned the credit crisis was beginning to hit Asia as the banking group signalled emerging markets would not be immune to a severe economic slowdown in the US.
Stephen Green, HSBC’s chairman, said the bank had seen signs of an economic slowdown in countries such as India and Vietnam, combined with rising inflation. Falling stock markets had hit demand for wealth management products in the region.
Stephen Green, HSBC’s chairman, said the bank had seen signs of an economic slowdown in countries such as India and Vietnam, combined with rising inflation. Falling stock markets had hit demand for wealth management products in the region.
Monday, 4 August 2008
Sunday, 3 August 2008
S&P emails slammed mortgage debt products
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Analysts at Standard & Poor’s Rating Services warned against mortgage-related debt products in internal e-mails that, in one case, called the complex financial deals “ridiculous,” the Wall Street Journal reported in its weekend edition.
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Friday, 1 August 2008
Profits of Doom
The rise of the bearish analyst
TEN years ago it was easy to make your name as a securities analyst. Take a technology stock, think of a number, double it and then announce that as your price target. Time it right and your call would be a self-fulfilling prophecy, as investors worldwide would regard your views as a buy signal. Mary Meeker of Morgan Stanley and Henry Blodget of Merrill Lynch ruled the markets.
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TEN years ago it was easy to make your name as a securities analyst. Take a technology stock, think of a number, double it and then announce that as your price target. Time it right and your call would be a self-fulfilling prophecy, as investors worldwide would regard your views as a buy signal. Mary Meeker of Morgan Stanley and Henry Blodget of Merrill Lynch ruled the markets.
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Disney Shanghai to include media deal
The joint venture agreement would give Disney a huge advantage over U.S. media rivals by allowing it to bypass foreign film import quotas and summer and holiday blackout periods, as well as television censorship, both imposed by the central government.
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Thursday, 31 July 2008
Wednesday, 30 July 2008
Hopes that the Olympics would cure Chinese market woes have been dashed
The Gambler by Kenny Rogers
You got to know when to hold them, know when to fold them,
Know when to walk away and know when to run.
You never count your money when you’re sitting at the table.
There’ll be time enough for counting when the dealing is done.
Tuesday, 29 July 2008
Monday, 28 July 2008
Sunday, 27 July 2008
Need some stock tips? It’s anyone’s guess but casinos seem a good bet
I have been trying to work out what is the next move for equity markets. I’ve been watching TV, surfing the Net and reading the papers. I’ve even started looking at the analyst reports that the bank produces. My conclusion is that there is an approximately equal number of commentators who think that markets are about to rebound as there are commentators who think that it has farther to fall.
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Record 13,400 homes to be completed next year
Rents expected to fall, especially in prime districts and East Coast. Fiona Chan reports.
More here...
Banks brace for more pain
Most banks did better than expected in the second quarter. But concerns about capital, credit and housing are likely to weigh on the sector for the rest of the year.
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Friday, 25 July 2008
Temasek Selling Merrill Lynch
One writer said, “Should we just move on? I do not think so. The patently huge mistake is not merely the result of recklessness but rather a systemic lack of accountability in making some of our largest investments.
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More here...
Thursday, 24 July 2008
Angry Youth: The new generation’s neocon nationalists
On the morning of April 15th, a short video entitled “2008 China Stand Up!” appeared on Sina, a Chinese Web site. The video’s origin was a mystery: unlike the usual YouTube-style clips, it had no host, no narrator, and no signature except the initials “CTGZ.”
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Wednesday, 23 July 2008
Lost in the new Beijing: The old neighbourhood
BEIJING: Historical cycles that took a century to unfold in the West can be compressed into less than a decade in today’s China. And that’s as true of Beijing’s preservation movement as it is of the nation’s ferocious building boom.
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Why have oil prices been falling?
Oil prices have risen to record levels in recent weeks, with traders in London and New York paying more than $147 a barrel for crude oil at its peak on 11 July.
But since then, prices have fallen on both sides of the Atlantic, dipping almost 13% to a low of $128.23 for a barrel for US light sweet crude on 18 July, and down 10% to $129.66 for Brent crude.
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But since then, prices have fallen on both sides of the Atlantic, dipping almost 13% to a low of $128.23 for a barrel for US light sweet crude on 18 July, and down 10% to $129.66 for Brent crude.
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Monday, 21 July 2008
World’s Most Economically Powerful Cities
What’s the world’s most economically powerful city?
If you picked New York or Tokyo, you’d be wrong.
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If you picked New York or Tokyo, you’d be wrong.
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Sunday, 20 July 2008
How emotional pain can really hurt
Love really does hurt, just as poets and song lyric writers claim.
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Raising the bar
A rare slip-up in court by Singapore’s elder statesman, Lee Kuan Yew
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What happens if oil prices rebound sharply?
The direction of change of international oil prices during the remainder of the year will, in our view, heavily influence the near-term fate of the global economy and international financial markets. Falls in global oil prices, of the kind we have seen over the past few days, clearly brighten the prospects for the global economy. Conversely, a possible return to rapid increases in oil prices could have a disastrously negative influence on global growth.
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