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Do people still look at rating agencies "wonderful recommendations"? To put yesterday's market into perspective, the KLCI lost about 1% while Nikkei lost 1.4% ... did Japan go through a downgrade too? Rating agencies nowadays only affirm what the market already knows. But just to be fair to them, we will fall a bit in sympathy. Truth be told, foreign funds held a lot of Malaysian bonds and last month they were already exiting based on the turmoil in funds being pulled back. The ringgit did not fall just over night, it was weakening for the past few weeks. The Malaysian ringgit closed slightly higher at RM3.2455 against the US dollar and RM2.5529 against the Singapore dollar today.  The local currency slipped to historic three-year lows of RM3.2934 against the greenback and 15-year-low of RM2.5862 against the Singapore dollar yesterday on fears of capital outflows from bond transactions. The ringgit has dropped 2.7 percent since June 30 to RM3.2463 per dollar, a loss secon...

Having spent the past four days wandering the neighborhoods of Washington DC, it is clear that this city is a prosperous, booming area.  Wonder what business enterprises are sparking this growth?  Big government. Years ago, when I was a newbie intern for the US Treasury, walking a couple of blocks from One Washington Circle (where I lived back when it was an apartment complex) was a dangerous undertaking.  No More.  For miles around, there are now leafy suburbs with casually dressed joggers and dog walkers.  The homes are well maintained and coiffed and the comfortable residents seems at ease with their plush surroundings. Who lives here?  The new "protected" class. These are the people that work for the federal government or the numerous so-called private businesses that devote their endeavors to providing services to government or lobbying to gain a share of government largesse.  These are the folks that view people outside the beltway as moroni...

Fancy getting rich?  Here are the rich man’s habits. Seminars, webinars, Social events/ gatherings, book launches... These right here are some of the main events circled on the rich people’s calendars! Ever wonder why? At one of the many book launches I have been to I had a chance to chat up the local best-selling author Azizi Ali, brilliant mind I must say. He told me that the number of books published in a country mutually relates to the wealth of the citizens.His explanation therefore was the more publications per annum, the more the development countrywide hence increase in the wealth of the individuals. Not so long ago while I was at a luncheon with this brilliant friend of mine, he mentioned that “rich people seldom eat alone”. I was quite ecstatic because this is a habit that I unknowingly practiced for quite a while now. What he said is totally true come to think about it. Its quite funny that there is an entire book dedicated to this subject “ Never Eat Alone ”. If you rea...

Topics: SONA-W vs CLIQ-W; Jaguh Kampungs, the Malaysian listed companies' reluctance to go regional or global. http://www.bfm.my/snm-show.html http://www.bfm.my/podcast.html Song Pick: The Rainbow Connection by Kermit the Frog

To me, its a "tell me something we don't already know". It is a knee jerk thingee, if ringgit weakens some more, our exporters will love Fitch even more. Maybank Investment Bank has this hot off the press research op: Fitch downgraded Malaysia's sovereign credit rating outlook to "negative" from "stable" , although the existing high investment-grade ratings of "A-" on long-term foreign debt and "A" on long-term local debt are maintained.  It cited - and we quote - "that prospects for budgetary reform and fiscal consolidation to address weaknesses in the public finances have worsened since the government's weak showing in the May 2013 general elections".   This comes as no surprise to us .  Some of our clients may recall from previous presentations / meetings - especially those who raised to me the issue of / question on Malaysia's fiscal deficit and govt debt - that I mentioned the risk of the big-3 rating agen...

This posting by Tom Hussey reveals so much about so many things. The main takeaway for me is not just to look at someone and not give due what he/she has been through. Reflections: Portraits of the Elderly as They Once Were My eye recently got pulled towards “Reflections”. A photo series by  Tom Hussey , where he portrays the elderly as they reflect on their younger selves in the mirror. This is a wonderfully done series that gives you pause to think, about the passage of time and the lives we are living.

Readers of this blog would be familiar with my liking for Instacom. Instacom Group Berhad, a company which is principally providing support services to the telco industry and recently made  its debut on the Ace Market of Bursa Malaysia (via the RTO of I-Power Berhad) in October 2012 may well be on its way to a possible Main Market transfer. The company acts as a contractor to install equipment for network equipment providers for the telcos. In addition to the aforesaid bread and butter business, it differentiates its business model with the other tier one boys mainly via its build and lease tower segment. In the longer run, upon having sufficient number of towers with recurrent income, the group may consider putting this segment of assets into a REIT – again a very common feature in overseas markets. Following the recent announcement of the free 1 for 2 warrants, that exercise should be nearing approval and completion to go ex soon. Today is also an interesting day with RHB launchi...

We cannot really call ourselves the Western front, nor can we call it the Eastern front ... so what can we call it ... khatulistiwa front?? Everyone is a bit puzzled why the market went so dead despite the index breaching 1800 last week .. well, I guess you need some asshole to tell you that the bulk of monies have gone two ways, one is to subscribe for the Ranhill IPO which went nowhere but you cannot get your monies back so soon. Two, all of us are selling what we can to be cashed up to buy SONA warrants this morning. The secretive thing is that all investors are busy selling down other shares to be cashed up for SONA ... its like a secret things which has bogged the market down for the past 3 trading days but nobody is willing to talk about it. Its funny how we all think we can do this secretly ... there is nothing that can dissuade us from buying SONA. It is empirically a better SPAC than Hibiscus or CLIQ. Hibiscus spent the first 3 months in the wilderness, then all hell broke loo...

I carry no brief for people that break laws, but, in the securities industry, indictments destroy businesses and innocent shareholders are usually left picking up the tab.  That was the result when Drexel Burnham was indicted in 1988.  Many of Drexel employees who trudged silently in the back office found their retirement hopes and dreams destroyed when Rudolph Guliani's over-zealous indictment caused Drexel to go bankrupt overnight -- long before anyone produced any evidence to a judge or jury to peruse.  Most of the folks who lost their life savings by the indictment of Drexel were innocent and had no knowledge of any wrongdoing.  That's what happens when you indict corporations, as opposed to individuals. This same theme plays out in the litigation and settlement arena.  Pension funds who trumpet their lawsuits against corporations are really only suing themselves and enriching the legal profession.  The wrongdoers go unscathed, while innocent shareholde...

After the two series of article on Financial Planning and Financial Planner . Some of you may asked: "Is it difficult to become a Financial Planner? What's the requirement needed?" Hmmm... Good news is it is not difficult, but the bad news is it's not easy either and the requirements for sure will be raised in the future. So, how? In Malaysia, those who practice as Financial Planner must pass any one of below examinations: Registered Financial Planners ( RFP ) issued by Malaysia Financial Planning Council (MFPC) Certified Financial Planners ( CFP ) issued by Financial Planning Association of Malaysia (FPAM) After you have passed the said examination, it doesn't mean that you're a Licensed Financial Planner straight away. Why? It's just serves you an entry passport only. Once you have accredited the qualification, you must apply the required licenses with Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) and Securities Commission (SC) before you can carry out financial planning...

Reviews   |   4  September  2012 Are Organic Foods Safer or Healthier Than Conventional Alternatives? :  A Systematic Review Crystal Smith-Spangler, MD, MS; Margaret L. Brandeau, PhD; Grace E. Hunter, BA; J. Clay Bavinger, BA; Maren Pearson, BS; Paul J. Eschbach; Vandana Sundaram, MPH; Hau Liu, MD, MS, MBA, MPH; Patricia Schirmer, MD; Christopher Stave, MLS; Ingram Olkin, PhD; and Dena M. Bravata, MD, MS [ + ] Article and Author Information See Also: Correction: Are Organic Foods Safer or Healthier Than Conventional Alternatives? Correction: Are Organic Foods Safer or Healthier Than Conventional Alternatives? Ann Intern Med.  2012;157(5):348-366. doi:10.7326/0003-4819-157-5-201209040-00007 Text Size:  A   A   A Article Figures Tables References Audio/Video Supplements Comments (9) This article has been corrected. The original version (PDF) is appended to this article as a supplement. Background:   The health benefits of organic foods are...

The adage about people only remember the winners, those who came in second or third do not get enough credit. In the world of modern music (i.e. stuff churned out popularly over the last 100 years), we can debate it to death but The Beatles would probably come out tops again and again. So much so that their music and the band members (even the pathetic Ringo Starr) are always revered no end. If The Beatles did not exist ... who do you think will take over that mantelpiece? Its a great topic for bar talk. It is also very good to bring up the achievements of the runner ups ... many whom we will casually write off or be forgotten even though their contributions were just as enormous. The Beatles had a different sound, its not like Presley's rock n roll (basically a white man doing a black man singing rock n roll, and tons of charisma). It also helped enormously that they came out of UK to conquer the US of A. Fair to say, the best progressive sounds almost inevitably came from the UK ...

After merging with ING Funds Berhad, Kenanga Investors Berhad launched its first new fund of the enlarged family. In this uncertain global economic environment, how much return can a fund generated was the main concern for many investors. Want to get higher return? Then, we cannot runaway from higher volatility! Are there any balance in between? Yes. To cater for such investors, this new fund aims to provide a compounded rate of return of at least 10% per annum over market cycle (5 years) by investing in a diversified portfolio of Asia Pacific equities . 3 Reasons WHY it benefits you: Well... Unlike others, this fund DO NOT has any benchmark constraint. This allows flexibility in identifying and implementing the most optimum investment strategy. Picture below shows the differences between Absolute and Relative return: Still not yet convinced? How about the proven track record? Click here to download prospectus Source: Kenanga Investors Bhd