Too Efficient Lah!!! Dog Day Afternoon ...

Since this is 1st of April, I hope this is not an April Fool's joke because its very silly to put such a thing out, as it implies stupidity, possible corruption, etc... For now, I shall assume this was not an April Fool's project by The Star.As we are striving to improve our incomes and productivity via The New Economic , somebody somewhere is already leading us. On page M7 of The Star's Metro today, there was apparently 20,000 stray dogs caught in ONE MONTH just under the Sepang Municipal Council jurisdiction. It seems that most of the strays were rounded up in Bandar Baru Salak Tinggi.Two contractors were assigned to do the job. The key is...

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This Irish Joke Is not So Funny

Ireland's finance minister is shocked to discover that Irish banks actually need $43bn in new capital. As mentioned in my talk, the Greece situation is just one of many, its now the turn of the PIIGS - Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain. No matter how you look at it, Italy and Spain are really too big to fail - if things start turning bad there, help will be swift, so those two countries are not a big issue. Now its Ireland's turn. $43bn is very big to Ireland. Ireland’s banks need $43 billion in new capital after “appalling” lending decisions left the country’s financial system on the brink of collapse.“Our worst fears have been surpassed,”...

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The New Economic Model

KEYNOTE ADDRESS BYTHE HON. DATO' SRI MOHD NAJIB TUN RAZAKPRIME MINISTER OF MALAYSIAATINVEST MALAYSIA 2010ON 30TH MARCH 2010, AT 8.15 AMSHANGRI LA HOTEL, KUALA LUMPUR-------------------------------------------INTRODUCTION1. Thank you for that very kind introduction. I want to say how delighted I am to be here with you today. Business leaders and investors are crucial to the health of Malaysia's economy - and our society. I want to thank you for the work you do, the contribution you make, and your involvement in the important discussions being held here over the coming days.2. The theme of Invest Malaysia 2010, 'Powering Global Excellence', is a fitting one given the forward looking nature of Bursa Malaysia and the aspirations we share for our nation and our businesses. It...

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What Others Are Saying About MYR & NEM

You'd have to click on the above image to enlarge. Basically Morgan Stanley is upgrading the 2010 forecast for MYR based on improving balance of payments, with a kicker tag along play with the renminbi revaluation.-------------------------------------------------PM Najib Razak’s announcements today confirm our read the policy shift in Malaysia to target the capital account deficit. Attracting more capital to enter or remain in the country is clearly a more important policy objective. This sets Malaysia well apart from the rest of the region who conversely is attempting to stem capital inflows and encourage outflows. Beyond this, other announcements...

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More On Asian Currencies

Damn... and I thought I could get away with my flimsy comments on currencies ... along comes a regular learned reader in Hisham, an obvious economics research guy somewhere.What's interesting was that he figured the MYR is not really tracking the yuan but rather keeping in step with the SGD - how I wish that was the case man ... maybe the relationship held true for 2-3 years ago but certainly not the past 10 or 15 years. There is no possible way we can afford to keep in step with SGD noting the huge structural differences in the industries' revenue base and margins achieved. -------------------- hishamh to me show details 9:29 AM (53 minutes...

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Geithner Could Label China As A Currency Manipulator Come April

The Greek debacle has been dying down a bit after attempts by bigger EU nations to placate the markets. While the Greece situation is still dicey, it is still in ICU but showing signs of life and recovery. Now we have a new looming "bear factor" coming to play with a fixed deadline, mid-April. There have been furious behind the scenes negotiations that have basically gone nowhere. Now the discussions, opinions and grouses are being publicly aired - obviously after the secretive discussions went nowhere, the US BSDs will have to air their attempts to the democratic Senate, telling them that they have tried. Just weeks before he makes a decision...

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Clear For Jerneh

It was a revealing article in The Edge where Jerneh Asia spokeswoman said "We are concentrating on the corporate exercise of the insurance business ... we are still in the midst of talking to the relevant parties on a stake sale.." How to deny but not really deny!Robert Kuok does not "play up" his counters. Jerneh Asia was below RM1.50 as early as November last year. There were two big ramp up sessions, the first was a couple of months back when it went to RM2.40, and the recent one which we are in the midst of - which went above RM2.80.There was a corporate announcement in December last year that Bank Negara had no objection in principle for...

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Why I Like Wasco (A Lot)

Its been difficult to locate good companies at fair prices. After much reading and going through the research, Wah Seong looks like a no brainer. There is a genuine transformation in their outlook and approach. Being a billion ringgit company will only get you so far. They have managed to secure projects overseas but its always less than RM1bn in value as the bigger jobs would want a bidding company to be better capitalised. Wah Seong has laid out two acquisitions in their pipeline and have a good chance to secure both. One has sufficient leverage in the Golden Triangle, while the other will mark their platform into Africa.While I generally frown...

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