2008-03-08

Friday, March 07, 2008

Best time to deny BN two third Majority, Fact or Myth?

In less than 24 hours eligible Malaysian will become the “decision maker” of their own destiny – to vote their candidates and parties in the 12th General Election. This is the only chance to make things right after most of themscrewed up big time four years ago when the slogan of empty promises were drummed into their ears. Strangely this time around the posters war wasn’t that fierce although oppositions managed to make fools out of Gerakan’s sloganeering, one of the component parties within the ruling Barisan Nasional (National Front) coalition.

Huge crowds numbering to a staggering 50,000 were seen braving rain and traffic for the sake of listening to oppositions’ speeches in Penang, Malaysia. But the billion-dollar question is will these people who enjoyed the spectacular speeches are brave enough to put the cross (for opposition) onto the voting paper tomorrow? Opposition party DAP should still remember how despite the same huge crowds back in 1999 the Penangites sent the party packing. It was disastrous and DAP was speechless after the Penang Chinese chickened out.

It was quite easy to check-mate DAP really. Everything boils down to the Chinese voters who are very scares of the slightest threat. Forget about common sense and logical thinking. The Penang Chinese could easily be intimidated with the simplest yet silliest threat of all. Just throw in threat such as the Chinese representatives in the government will be reduced to almost nil. Tell them that the next Chief Minister will not be Chinese if they vote oppositions. Better still throw in the threat that all the multinational companies will pull out from Penang if opposition wins, hence potential loss of jobs. Also threat them with no more education allocation for Chinese schools if Penangites vote for oppositions.

Despite being complex, Penang Chinese are as kiasu and kiasi as Singaporean and are definitely not risk-takers despite being fooled by the National Front again and again without fail. Oppositions are claiming this is the best time to deny the arrogant National Front their two-third majority and could even form the new government but let’s get real. It’s easier to strike RM20 million lottery than to capture 75 parliamentary seats necessary to deny Abdullah Badawi’s team. The stars are not aligned in favor of oppositions.

While the oppositions could rely on the already irritated Indian to swing most of the votes, the same cannot be said about Chinese votes especially Penang. Chinese votes will be split for the opposition as well as the National Front leaving the Malay votes quietly send the National Front to victorious. That’s the most likely scenario. It holds water the argument from the author of Malaysia-Today author, Raja Petra Kamarudin, that while the Indian somehow awaken from their 50-years sleep theChinese and Malay are still in their stupid mode. It’s true that while Indian has already got their Hindraf, the Chinese are still thinking of bank-draft while Malay is enjoying their over-draft.

On the other hand let’s see what if somehow the opposition miraculously able to deny the National Front their two-third majority by capturing 75 parliamentary seats. You don’t expect the BN to sleep through it (I know, I know, the Prime Minister has the tendency to sleep on the job), do you? How hard could it be to spend a couple of millions to buy over some oppositions to make up the two-third majority, not that the oppositions had not crossed over before. MalaysiaKini managed to interview former dictator Mahathir who shared his view on why we need opposition (now he’s talking), Samy Vellu should be kicked out (can you believe this old fox?) and the feel good factor is simply not there.

And please don’t forget the bonus or reserve votes specifically tailored made for National Front to the tune of over 200,000 army votes. The bias Election Commission can deploy this huge votes anywhere required to cheat help National Front again. Need I say about the phantom votes again? So, the time for National Front or BN to be toppled has not yet arrived. Maybe if the Penangites are ready (and brave enough) to come forward by voting for oppositions tomorrow, it couldprovides the first step towards the chance of denying National Front its two-third majority in the next coming 13th General Election.

Enjoy the campaign (ceramah) video by Raja Petra Kamarudin in SS2 below. Can you imagine what could happen if there’s no YouTube? Oppositions will be slaughtered by the government-controlled print and electronic media. Perhaps Abdullah Badawi should consider buy over YouTube instead of the stupid “Corridors” projects.

Other Articles That May Interest You …

• Dow up, KLCI down; Dow down, KLCI down even more?
• Contamination - Dead votes & soldiers’ Double votes?
• Malaysia 12th Election – Dynasties & internal Cleansing?
• How you’re being taken for a ride by the Suckers
• Malaysia’s Biggest Scandal – Business as Usual

How to win a Nintendo Wii

What did you do when the local stock market was plunging into the toilet since the last couple of days? It staged a technical rebound today but that doesn’t mean the light is at the end of the tunnel. I normally play my PS2 when the stock market does not present opportunity to trade. Nowadays gamers are crazy about Wii instead of PS2 or PS3 from Sony and in the blogosphere you can read competition whereby Nintendo Wii was given away. Now you can win Wii by entering a couple of information.

Charter is giving away Nintendo Wii for readers in four steps. Just enter your e-mail together with some other personal information such as your name, address, telephone number etc and you’re on your way to win the Wii. You need to be 18 years of age or older though. The winner will receive Nintendo Wii Console, Wii Stand, 1 remote control, 5 games, 1 remote control and other standard accessories. 

Besides, readers could bid for Charter High-Speed Internet for Life. The registration is for visitors who are staying within the serviceable area only. In another words if you’re not living within the coverage area, you can forget about it. Bids start at $10 and the auction begins on Mar 12, 2008. A random drawing will be done to select the winner by the sponsor and the winner will be notified by telephone, e-mail or snail mail by April 7, 2008. Click Here for a Chance to Win a Nintendo® Wii™!

*sponsored*

Thursday, March 06, 2008

Interested in trading currency? Wish to try it FREE?

In case you’ve not recovered from the shock of my previous article that the global oil prices might be heading for the $130 a barrel mark here’s another record reading. Briefly after Nymex closed Wednesday, the oil prices hit anew trading record - $104.95, just 5 cents short of touching the $105 level. If you didn’t know, the inflation-adjusted oil price record of $103.76 based on Iran hostage crisis back in 1980 has already been broken. In another words, we’re seeing theall-time high prices of the black-gold.

The reason for yesterday’s record was mainly due to the small wave in supplies drop that hit the already sensitive volatility in the futures market. The small wave turns out to be a rogue wave when U.S. Energy Department's Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported a surprise drop in crude oil stockpiles when most analysts expect it otherwise. The decision by OPEC to do nothing to the production didn’t help either but who can blame them when more profits are flowing into their coffers.

There’re people who started to flock to new trading platform – currency exchange trading. Now if you wish to try your hand on such trading instrument you might want to try Saxo Bank. Its FX trading platform has won numerous awards such as the Best Retail Platform and Speed of Execution. As a trader one of the important factors to consider is definitely “Speed”. Just like trading option or stocks, currency exchange’s bid and offer changes faster than you can blink your eyes, literally. Saxo Bank now invites you to testdrive the world’s fastest online FX trading platform – for FREE.

With Saxo Bank you can trade over 160 currencies, 24 hours and 7 days a week. As far as the spread of FX Bid/Ask is concern, it’s very low which points to transparency. Of course it comes with free charts and webinars. I mentioned previously that one of the yardsticks in measuring good customer support is the availability of “Online Chat”, of which comes handy when you subscribe to Saxo Bank FX trading platform.

There’s another factor that you should consider when evaluating FX trading platform and that’s protection guarantee. Some other providers call it insurance coverage. Whatever it is, you should feel secured knowing that Saxo Bank is a regulated European investment bank covered by Guarantee Fund – meaning you’re covered up to the amount of DKK 300,000 (Danish Krone) in the event of institution’s suspension or bankruptcy.

Before you jump in, you can download your free trial of the SaxoTrader software, with No Risk and No Obligation. Try it out and see for yourself the speed as per claimed. Click on the banner within this site for the FREE download (can you find it?) or click here to download.

Tuesday, March 04, 2008

Oil prices going for the $130 jackpot, are you ready?

In Sept 2007 I wrote the reasons why oil prices might spikes to $90 and beyond. But if you were reading that piece of article back then you might screamed StockTube has gone crazy. With current oil prices above $102 a barrel (in fact it traded close to record $104 on Tuesday trading) you might laugh at how cheap the black gold was at $90 a barrel six months ago. Was there any magic lamp that I’ve rubbed and told by genie that oil prices would skyrocket?

Nope, it was based purely on the basic of how global markets will react to Federal Reserve’s interest rate cut. You cut interest rate, the dollar plunges and everyone runs for shelters under the name of oil, gold, copper, wheat and even palm oil. Central bank happily left the OPR (overnight policy rate) unchanged at 3.5 percent. Riding on the weak dollar, the Central Bank achieved two things – Ringgit strengthens on itself and the lower external loan repayment.

Oil prices to go $120 or even $130

But what if I were to say the oil prices might rise to $120 or even $130 a barrel? I bet you wanna knock my head off *grin*, don’t you? Well, the reality is nobody dares to bet their souls and fortunes that oil prices will not go to $120 or $130 level. Not after the oil prices went from as low as $51 a barrel in early 2007 to the mind-boggling $100 at the end of 2007. That’s almost 100 percent appreciation within a year, mind you. And what could possibly stop it from appreciates another 30 percent within 2008? Aren’t I’m over-generous with the estimated $130 a barrel (30 percent upside)?

Forget about the fundamental justification(s) for such a ridiculous high oil prices because you can’t find one. There’re simply too many factors that could blow off the oil prices. The crazy President Bush could launch an attack at Iran before his term ends. The OPEC could go crazy with their output decisions. Some mad people might blow off oil supplies and so on. The biggest and obvious factor is the fact that Ben Bernanke has no other choice but to keep cutting the U.S. interest rate until the economy crawl back to its feet.

So, AirAsia Berhad (KLSE: AIRASIA, stock-code 5099) Tony Fernandes might be right (and smart) after all when he revealed that the company had actuallyhedge the oil prices with $130 call options within the duration of six months. With the current election fever rising, somehow the high oil prices will bring you back to the campaign promises by oppositions. On one hand you’ve ruling coalitionbrainwashing brainstorming people that fuel prices hike is inevitable. On the other hand oppositions are justifying that it’s possible to reduce the fuel prices by taking RM10 billion of the RM80 billion annual net-profits from Petronas to subsidize it, without causing the nation to go bust.

Oil-Stocks to Monitor

With the escalation of oil prices, both parties will shout even louder their stands. Anyway, investing and trading wise, there’re some oil-related stocks that you should pay attention to. Study their fundamentals and technical analysis. You could find some hidden gems that could make you money.

• EOG Resources, Inc. (NYSE: EOG, stock) - explores, develops, produces and markets natural gas and crude oil primarily in major producing basins in the United States of America (United States), Canada, offshore Trinidad, the United Kingdom North Sea and other international areas.
• Transocean Inc. (NYSE: RIG, stock) - primary business is to contract these drilling rigs, related equipment and work crews primarily on a day-rate basis to drill oil and gas wells - specializes in sectors of the offshore drilling business with a focus on deepwater and harsh environment drilling services. Transocean, the world’s largest offshore drilling contractor merged with smaller competitor GlobalSantaFe Corporation (formerly NYSE: GSF), an offshore oil and gas drilling contractor, owning or operating a fleet of 61 marine drilling rigs, charges on a daily rate basis, on July 2007.
• Schlumberger (NYSE: SLB, stock) - an oilfield services company, supplying technology, project management and information solutions.
• EnCana Corporation (NYSE: ECA, stock) - is a holder of natural gas and oil resource lands onshore North America.
• Halliburton Company (NYSE: HAL, stock) - an oilfield services company and a provider variety of services, products, maintenance, engineering and construction to energy, industrial and governmental customers.
• Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE : VLO, quote) - owns and operates 18 refineries located in the United States, Canada and Aruba that produce refined products, such as reformulated gasoline (RFG), gasoline meeting the specifications of the California Air Resources Board (CARB), CARB diesel fuel, low-sulfur diesel fuel and oxygenates (liquid hydrocarbon compounds containing oxygen).

Other Articles That May Interest You …

• Contamination - Dead votes & soldiers’ Double votes?
• Tony’s AirAsia, to Privatise or Not to Privatise
• Oil prices at $100 a barrel on third day of New Year 2008
• What to do during US Economy Slowdown?
• Fuel Price Hike of 90 cents to RM2.82 a liter next year?
• Oil prices establishing $90 as the new base
• Reasons Why Oil Price might spikes to $90 and beyond
• Rate Cut’s effect – high Oil Prices and weaker Dollar

Monday, March 03, 2008

Dow up, KLCI down; Dow down, KLCI down even more?

In the past whenever the Prime Minister announced the dissolution of Parliament, the stocks would experience sudden spike as if it were given Viagra. Political-linked stocks would be thumping their chests as the stocks became hot-commodities. This time around the 12th general election fails to show the fireworks though the stock market saw the pre-election rally. In fact the reverse was what happened and this had some investors (not all) jaw dropped.

If you look at the technical chart, the KLCI (Kuala Lumpur Composite Index) appears to be having fun with the bungee-jump. Well, sort of free fall instead of bungee-jump. One may point the finger at U.S. stock exchange. Now, where are those people who screamed the local market is immune from Wall Street? What I can hear now is people who joked that when Dow Jones goes up, KLCI drops but when Dow drops, KLCI drops even more. After breached the 1,425 level, KLCI is heading towards the dangerous 1,335 level. Interestingly as of writing the KLCI is licking the 1,335 after tumbled more than 20 points.

What really happens? It could be related closely to the current election campaigns. The fact is the Abdullah Badawi’s (previous) administration is facing tough fights, thanks to Badawi’s own weakness over the last four years. Promises made four years ago still remains as empty promises and collecting dust. It’s a rare sight to have Badawi’s coalition party candidates being booed and jeered during their campaign. Internal fighting amongst Badawi’s own UMNO party could cost the party even more seats. Already speculations are rife that hundreds of millions are being poured to jack up the machineries.

The coalition party candidates are said to be selling like mad their stocks after the recent rally in order to cash-out. Contrary to public’s perception that every coalition party candidates are allocated unlimited funds, the fact is these individuals need tosource huge amount of money (this time around) to cushion their respective constituency. There’s difference between voluntary workers for both coalition party and oppositions. While coalition party’s voluntary workers generally expect some sort of payments, the oppositions’ are not paid a single cent. Hence mountain of money are needed to maintain these workers and to buy fish votes.

There’re also speculations that investors are selling off their stocks looking at the high possibility that Badawi’s team might lose enormous amount of seats, although it’s near to impossible to unseat the coalition party. Just how serious could be the risk that the oppositions might maintain Kelantan, recapture Trengganu and possibly deny Badawi’s coalition party two-third majority in states like Penang or Kedah, not to mention the possibility of giving the sleepy PM a run for their money in Perak, Federal Territory and Selangor?

When was the last time you see corporate figures such as group chief executive of Bumiputra-Commerce Holdings Berhad (KLSE : COMMERZ, stock-code 1023),Nazir Razak, gets his hand dirty and start campaigning for coalition party? He’s campaigning for Lembah Pantai imcumbent Shahrizat who won with 5-figure majority back in 2004, mind you. And that’s not the end of it. AirAsia Berhad’s (KLSE: AIRASIA, stock-code 5099) boss Tony Fernandes will make his appearance as well. Doesn’t that blow your mind away? Doesn't that shows desperation?

The history of 1999 election could repeat itself if only Malay voters who voted Badawi in 2004 chose to stay back at home watching their favorite TV programs as sign of protest due to escalating high cost of living. The only stocks worth monitoring are palm-oil related counters after the benchmark May CPO futures contract rose to a record RM4,173 a tonne today. I guess Syed Mokhtar’s previous offer of RM3.79 a share for Tradewinds Plantation Berhad (KLSE: TWSPLNT, stock-code 6327) is way below attractive level considering the stock is trading at RM4.00 a share now.

Other Articles That May Interest You …

• Contamination - Dead votes & soldiers’ Double votes?
• Malaysia 12th Election – Dynasties & internal Cleansing?
• Tradewinds Boss raised the previous Pathetic Offer
• The Composite Index, Plantation Stocks and the Wolf

Friday, February 29, 2008

Contamination - Dead votes & soldiers’ Double votes?

The over 90 percent seats won by previous ruling government (I mentioned previous because there’s no government as the Parliament has been dissolved) was in fact could be explained in layman term. It was basically a protest vote against former premier Mahathir Mohamad’s racial discrimination and dictatorship rule. There was a strong reason why Abdullah Badawi was chosen instead of Najib Razak – to leverage on Badawi’s image as “Mr. Clean” in order to bring back supporters. Add some slogans and the voters blindly threw their support and within hours Badawi scored the highest win ever recorded. It was an easy win.

Whether there’s a gentlemen agreement between Mahathir and Badawi that the latter should enjoy the power for only one term is open to speculation. The fact is it’s hard for anybody who has tasted the power (of dictatorship) to willingly give it up. Despite unlimited control of the air time on TV and radio, as well as the mainstream print media, not to mention cash (that’s your money, mind you) one cannot rule out the obvious fact that this time around Badawi’s team could lose some seats though he will surely wins. Not only people on the ground were fed-up with Badawi’s empty promises made in 2004, they also do not see him as a capable leader that could bring the country to the right direction.

You just have to listen to the grumblings on the ground to gain tips on how the coming 12th Malaysia General Election will end up. The Chinese are not happy with the racial statement and economy while the Indian awaken by Hindraf of how they were marginalized, so much so that their basic needs such as temples were demolished without a blink. But all the Chinese, Indian and Malay have common dissatisfaction – the rising cost of living. The oppositions can smile this time as all these issues fall onto their laps without much effort. The former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has been going around telling how the oppositions would lower the fuel price if elected and form the next government. Is this for real?

Badawi and Najib (his deputy) called it a bluff as the country will goes bankrupt if fuel price was to be lowered. But Anwar justified that it can be done by taking RM10 or RM20 billion off Petronas’s (state-owned oil and gas company) RM80 billion annual net profit to reduce the fuel price; it’s laughable to even think the nation could go bust. Whether you like Anwar or not he’s definitely a very charismatic politician, not to mention a very eloquent person compared to Abdullah Badawi. Corruption scandal such as the 114 million euros (RM530 million) “commission” received from submarine deal that somehow lead to the murder of Mongolian Altantuya Sharribuu was trumpeted into the ears of people who gathered during his campaign.

Using his past 8 years as former Finance Minister, Anwar ridiculed Badawi’s multiple “Coridor” projects that amounted to trillions of ringgit – something that is not possible financially. Anwar also ridiculed and made fun of the low-quality of Ministers under Badawi especially the (previous) Information Minister Zainuddin Maidin's interview with Al-Jazeera. But those are not the end of it considering how primitive Badawi’s team is in votes fishing. It’s perfectly alright 20 years ago if the candidates help fishmongers peeling prawns, washing squids and frying noodles with their smiling face ready for the photographers to take the shot to be front-paged. But it’s a total joke to perform the same stunt at this age.

Meanwhile Malaysian netizens are watching anxiously if Jeff Ooi could become the“first blogger” to enter the election (under opposition DAP) and win a ticket to the Parliament. Jeff however is fighting an uphill battle considering his is an ageing constituency with only 15 percent people below the age of 35 and thus majority might not access his blog. Nevertheless oppositions are relying on technology such as blog and YouTube to carry their messages across, although the effect is yet to be seen. Is Abdullah Badawi’s coalition party shivering nervously at their prospect this time around? Yes and No.

Yes, judging from the high frequency of propaganda advertised on local media (they have spent over RM1 million within 3 days of campaign) and how their candidates were booed and jeered during their campaigns. For example one Donald Duck Lim got what he deserved when he used Malaysia and Burma (Myammar) as a comparison as to why voters should vote Badawi’s coalition party.

No, because the Election Commission has the backup plan for coalition party in terms of “phantom voters”. Due to proofs (exposed by oppositions) of voters above 100 years old still in the electoral roll, the Election Commission finally admitted there’re a staggering 8,666 voters aged over 100 including two 128-year-oldsbut refused to take them out as they’re presumed alive. Oppositions on the other hand are ready with their cameraman to congratulate these super-seniors should they come out to vote before apply to the Guinness Book of Records. There’re also claims that soldiers’ would contribute double-votes for Badawi – as postal as well as civilian votes.

For gamblers who wish to strike big in 4-D, 3D or lottery, you can try the following numbers. These are the people who are over 100 years old but still alive and kicking. Enter them into here and tell me if the whole electoral roll is not contaminated.

• 890211-05-0014 ( born: 1889 )
• 961022-50-5236 ( born: 1896 )
• 971219-75-0079 ( born: 1897 )
• 991230-71-0156 ( born: 1899 )
• 991025-74-0081 ( born: 1899 )

Other Articles That May Interest You …

• Malaysia 12th Election – Dynasties & internal Cleansing?
• How you’re being taken for a ride by the Suckers
• Land of Paradise with Great Leader and Mathematicians
• Mirror mirror on the wall who’s the biggest liar of all?
• Broom Award for the Information Minister please
• Malaysia’s Biggest Scandal – Business as Usual

Thursday, February 28, 2008

Apple Stock - 6 Reasons you should pay attention now

Once I was betting that Apple Inc. could climb above $200 a share without much difficulty considering the marvelous people, products and innovation this company has in its pocket. It did breaches above $200 a share but for a very short period before lost about 40 percent of its market capitalization (it’s market caps is $108 billion) in only two months thereafter. Long story short the Murphy Law came to take its toll. People who short the stock applause but could the rhythm is about to change?

It’s definitely very tempting and investors or traders who have been following Apple Inc.’s (Nasdaq: AAPL, stock) stock are drooling now. From P/E (price earning ratio) of almost 50 times its earning the stock is currently trading at 26.20 it’s multiple. And we’re talking about a company with no “debts” but over $25 billion in annual sales and earning per share of $4.55, not to mention annual sales growth of 35 percent (against industry’s 25.7 percent) and annual income growth of 57.5 percent (versus industry’s 46.5 percent). What more could you ask for? It’s rather sad that Warren Buffett doesn’t understand the business of technology else he could be drooling as well.

Now, why should you wake up from your sweet dream and pay attention to this Apple Inc. stock? Let’s summarize it for easier illustration:

1. It’s cheap at P/E of only 26.20 for such a (do I need to promote Apple Inc. again?) well managed and established company. In another words, it’s on 40 percent “discount” from its peak of $202 a share.
2. The technology, innovation and development, leadership, people, products & quality and branding have not change for the worse. Unless Steve Jobs makes an abrupt exit the same way like Gamuda Berhad’s founder, the company should continue to shine.
3. Technically, the $120 should provide adequate support. Every Tom, Dick and you know that U.S. economy is in screw-up shape and things could only get better after 2008. Uncle Ben is going to cut the interest rate again regardless whether he likes it or not. Unless some idiots go and blow off themselves in the name of holy way, how worse could the Wall Street becomes?
4. After Wednesday’s trading hour, Apple Inc. COO Timothy Cook reiterated the firm's 10 million iPhone sales forecast for 2008. He further noted that while year-over-year iPod unit shipment growth was 5% in the December quarter, year-over-year revenue growth was at a whopping 17% - the fastest in a year. So far Apple Inc. has shipped over 4 million units of iPhone.
5. Apple boss Steve Jobs is flying more spending $550,000 (three times the average) on airplane expenses. Analysts read it as a bullish sign, hinting that Jobs is trying to push up distribution deals for the iPhone and deals with Apple's suppliers. Furthermore Apple Inc.’s research and development spending was up 34% in the December quarter although that amount is only a fraction (2.56 percent) of the sales figure.
6. Possible of share buy-back since this giant is sitting on a mind-boggling $18.5 billion pile of cash which translates into $21 for every Apple’s stock. Investors would love it if the cash could be returned back to shareholders in terms of dividend. But with Apple Inc. stock at such a discount, the time couldn’t be better to buy back the shares outstanding (currently at 879 million shares) and instantly boost the EPS (earnings per share). An estimated $10 billion could boost EPS by 10 percent, enough to send its 2008 financial years EPS estimate of $5.14 to $5.65.

# TIP: If the $120 support level is breached, prepare to make money by shorting the stock or load up your Put Options because it will goes down to $90 a share level. And $30 a share difference could make you tons of money.

Other Articles That May Interest You …

• Make Money scalping AAPL, not enough for MacBook Air

Click frauds rising, could Adsense and YPN act on time?

Looking at how Google Inc.’s stock price performed after I closed my position yesterday, I was relieved. Not that I can always close my position(s) when the trade(s) was in the money as naturally the greed somehow will always whisper to me to stay on for better profit percentage. Boy! I was glad I locked the profit by taking the money off the table. As a trader sometime you need to be realistic of your trade’s position. You got to be sensitive to the market news, both macro and micro. The main reason why I hit the button yesterday was due to the poor click-through rate's report. And logically after such a huge sell-off the technical rebound would follow, which happens today.

Anyway that trade was history but as a trader or investor one needs to remember the lesson learnt throughout the journey. You learn both when you made money as well as when you lose money. You gradually mature along the way and that’s how you go up to the next level. Now, talk about poor click-through rate do you know that one of the reasons Google Inc. implemented such a disastrous measure was to prevent accidental clicks? However it won’t be able to eliminate “intentional or fraud clicks”. And talking about fraud clicks do you know which country registers the highest fraud clicks and gave Google’s Adsense the biggest headache? It’s none other than India, the country that produce the most number of Information Technology (IT) intellectuals.

According to Click Forensics the overall industry average click fraud rate rose to 16.6 percent for fourth quarter 2007, up 14.2 percent for the same quarter in 2006. The average click fraud rate of PPC advertisements appearing on search engine content networks, including Google AdSense and the Yahoo Publisher Network, was 28.3 percent in Q4 2007 – up from 19.2 percent the same quarter in 2006. In fourth quarter 2007, India scored 4.3 percent click fraud while Germany and South Korea registered 3.9 and 3.7 percent respectively.

The high click fraud from India could be explained in a simple way. India has been mass producing IT-literate graduates and the gap between the rich and poor is jaw-dropping. Basically it’s a lucrative market to pull in some articles, get Adsense approval and start making U.S. dollars. Convert it back into local currency and you potentially could live comfortably, if you don’t get caught by Google’s click fraud detection system. Hence, don’t be surprise if you heard of networks of people who perform “you click my ads and I click your ads” strategy in order to make good money. What better way to work from home, don’t you think?

If the trend continues (click fraud), both Google Adsense and Yahoo Publisher Network might need to find a better alternative to ensure online advertising is worthwhile. The next quarter of earning announcement from Google Inc. could shed some lights into the severity of existing advertising system.

Other Articles That May Interest You …

• Take Money & Run, Google crumbled nearing 1-year low

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Take Money & Run, Google crumbled nearing 1-year low

Regardless of Microsoft Corp.’s (Nasdaq: MSFT, stock) strategy to tame internet giant Yahoo Inc. (Nasdaq: YHOO, stock) into submission, there’s no money to be made from both stocks. Such acquisition news depends solely on your luck – if you somehow bought into Yahoo’s shares before the announcement, you made money else don’t bother. Regular StockTube readers should know I never touch both stocks, for obvious reason. But that doesn’t stop me (and you) to make money leveraging on such acquisition news.

If you’re first time reader of StockTube I hope you’ve read into such news as opportunity to make money by shorting Google stock or its Put Options. Back then StockTube wrote reasons why Yahoo should accept Microsoft’s $44.6B offerand for this simple reason why you should short the stock. Everybody knows the market pulse is not bullish. If it’s not bullish then it’s bearish – no brainer huh? Seriously who would dare to long the stocks at such moment when U.S. economy wouldn’t be any much better till the end of 2008, well, that’s what analysts said and the perception on the trading floor just aren’t any better.

Since Google Inc.’s (Nasdaq: GOOG, stock) disappointed result which saw its stock plunged from the height of almost $750 a share, all the stars were almost aligned for you to be bearish and short the stock or buy the Put Options.StockTube opened the position, GOOG MAR 2008 500 Put Option on 1st Feb 2008, the same day the article was published and has been hanging on ever since. The stock dropped the next day (and made money instantly) but I chose to hold and the sight of your position going the other way thereafter wasn’t a pleasant one. If you’ve been monitoring Google Inc. you knew this monster can’t crawl very far.

Today I closed the position netting 103 percent profit when the stock price of Google Inc. crumbled nearing its 1-year low. The reason - technology-sector researcher comScore released several reports that pointed showed a continued decline in the number of web surfers clicking on Google’s paid-clicks ads. The number of clicks fell 7 percent in January from previous month and the click-through rate reported was the lowest since comScore started such data report. Google Inc. had recently reviewed or changed the area of ads to be clickable to reduce the number of accidental clicks by users but it somehow backfire, as can be seen by comScore latest report.

While the action taken by Google Inc. is laudable it’s actually quite early to condemn Google’s stock at this moment. Analysts and advertisers noted that Google is taking steps to improve the quality of its links and click-through rates and such weak reading is only temporarily. Weaker paid clicks will be partially offset by stronger pricing as Google raises conversion rates, argued one analyst. Also I’ve read some publishers who initially reported lower clicks on their Google Adsense account have actually recorded higher rates per click thereafter although it might not be true to all the publishers.

Anyhow, it’s not wise to take any chances and such weakness (Google Inc.’s stock) should be seen as the best time to take money off the table and run. Furthermore I still have some position on GOOG APR 530 Put Options that I entered together with Baidu.com, Inc. (Nasdaq: BIDU, stock) of which I’ve closed earlier on.

Other Articles That May Interest You …

• Reasons Yahoo should accept Microsoft’s $44.6B offer
• Have Profit Will Run, Make Money with Baidu in 1-Day

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Maybank and TMI new chiefs, dare to ignore Rumors?

Rumors and speculations are part and parcel of investing life especially in the stocks markets. Sometimes rumors and speculations could be considered the crystal ball that could tell you the future, no matter how you hate it. In fact without rumors and speculations investing life could be so boring that it’s not much fun even if you made the money. Investing life is suppose to be excited and who said rumors are confined to people who like to gossips and hold no water?

There’ve been multiple times when rumors turned up to become realities. After months of speculation, today Malaysia biggest lender Malayan Banking Berhad (KLSE: MAYBANK, stock-code 1155) announced the appointment of Telekom Malaysia Berhad’s group CEO Abdul Wahid Omar as its new chief executiveeffective 1st July 2008. Maybank’s existing chief executive, Amirsham Aziz, 57, in a somber mood in turn announced he will retire on 30th June after serving as the CEO for 14 years. The rumors started when market talks had it that the political pressure was mounting to replace Amirsham who has been conservative in expanding the banking institution.

The jigsaw puzzles seemed to become clearer when former Maxis Communications Bhd group CEO, Datuk Jamaludin Ibrahim, announced his decision to call it a day on July 2007. People refused to believe Jamaludin retired for good considering he was just 48 years of age. The bet then was Jamaludin would most probably serve under a new and more powerful master – the government (instead of Maxis’ Ananda Krishnan). In order for Jamaludin to become the new boss of Telekom Malaysia Berhad (KLSE: TM, stock-code 4863) Abdul Wahid needs to be relocated and what better place than Maybank.
Besides confirming the rumors that Abdul Wahid is making the exit from Telekom,Jamaludin Ibrahim also has been announced as the chief executive of TM International on the same day (today). TM International was a spin off unit from Telekom’s mobile Celcom (M) Berhad that is seeking re-listing. Both Maybank and Telekom are GLC (government-linked company) and can be considered two of the most successful run organizations, never mind the monopoly status especially in Telekom’s case.

What could be the impact on Telekom and Maybank’s stocks? While it will take some time to see if Abdul Wahid could pass with flying color since he has no experience in banking business, the same cannot be say about Jamaludin. With his wide experience gained during his tenure in Maxis, Jamaludin is definitely an asset to TMI but this monster has its own challenges. Unlike Maxis, TMI is a government organization that has a huge pool of staffs enjoying their life complacently. It’s not easy to move these people the same way you direct Maxis’ staff to give their best in terms of productivity.

Don’t get me wrong as I’m not saying Telekom consists of bunches of lazy staffs, although it used to be not many moons ago. And don’t forget that within Telekom there’re basically tons of group of “teams” that have their “own territories” to take care of. To synergize all these islands of teams might take ages and could backfire if not handled with care. Therefore Jamaludin is expected to produce results set within Khazanah Nasional Berhad’s, which hold strategic 40 percent stake, scope of contract. As long as the profit can be increased annually with some expansion routes, Jamal’s mission is consider accomplished.

Other Articles That May Interest You …

• TM spin-off project, Wahid to exit with Jamal’s entry?
• The Rise of CELCOM Empire, Tales You Should Know
• Why MAXIS Group CEO Resigned?

Monday, February 25, 2008

Gamuda’s Game-Over reveals Dark Side of Economy?

Besides the hot topic on Malaysia’s 12th General Election which probably will be the most exciting election ever in the history of the country, the stock market is equivalent electrifying especially in the construction sector. If you think what I wrote about Gamuda and the chain of thought of foreign funds in selling without blinking twice was a joke, today’s stock reaction speaks for itself. That’s the reality you have to consider if your stocks are within foreign portfolio, and Gamuda is the second largest builder mind you. You got to play by the rule of the game, like it or not.

If you missed my previous article on how foreign funds or investors “behave”, you can click here to read it. How do I know the reaction of foreign investors? Simple - through experience in stocks investing and option trading, no crystal ball. It’s just like Steve Jobs selling off his major stakes in Apple Inc (Nasdaq: AAPL, stock) but maintain his position in the company. Put yourself in the investors’ shoes. What would you do? Can you think of a compelling reason why investors should buy or hold when Steve Jobs sold off?

Today’s closing stock price of Gamuda Berhad’s (KLSE: GAMUDA, stock-code 5398) only goes to confirm that the game is over for Gamuda. In such scenario (the founder sell off in big wave), normally most of the researchers, analysts, investors and professionals would have a common stand – to SELL. First you have JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM, stock) who cut Gamuda’s price estimate to RM3.30 from RM4.40 a share. Today Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C, stock) has a sell rating on the stock justifying that the construction sector has peaked.

This disposal by founder and Managing Director Lin Yun Ling to some degrees also revealed the dark side of Malaysia’s economy, or rather the government’s economy policies. The theory is quite simple. If the MD is very confident that the so-called “Coridors” projects launched by previous (there’s no government now as the Parliament has been dissolved) Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi namely IDR, NCER, ECER and SCORE are real, the MD is definately mad and crazy to dispose of his stake now. Take SCORE for example. Just 1 percent of it will translate to a whopping RM5 billion. So why exit now? Being the person who has first-hand information he knows “very well” these projects, whether it’s for real or hoax. 

Could the ambitious development projects mooted by Badawi were just election propaganda and nothing but empty vessels? Could the real economy shows its real ugly picture after the election? Chart-wise, the stock is trading at the dangerous RM3.40 – RM3.60 a share level with very high selling pressure. It’s obvious the stock is fast losing its shine and the fact that it is trading below the 200-day moving average after broke the uptrend range means the game is over for Gamuda.

Other Articles That May Interest You …

• Gamuda tumbled, opportunity to Buy or reason to Sell?
• Land of Paradise with Great Leader and Mathematicians
• IDR – Could Middle East do the Trick this time?
• After IDR now NCER - Segregating Pies
• IDR-Nusajaya - Another White Elephant Dooms to Failure?

Saturday, February 23, 2008

Malaysia 12th Election – Dynasties & internal Cleansing?

Hope of election rally didn’t materialize, if the performance of Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange since the dissolution of Parliament is any yardstick to goes by. Stocks were plunging inline with the bleeding KLCI. Stock traders, speculators or gamblers were not bored though since two other venues to make money sprang due to this 12th General Election. I’ve wrote the first one, the 4-D or 3-D number forecast and there could be more “numbers” to come. For example if somehow Koh Tsu Koon who is more indecisive than the PM himself lose his Parliament seat, then you can bet gamblers will come out with some lucky 4D numbers to bet. 

The second chance of making money is definitely the illegal betting of who will become the new Penang Chief Minister. In fact the betting could span wider scope such as would Malaysia Prime Minister’s son-in-law becomes the Negeri Sembilan new Chief Minister? Yes, that’s the most talk-about gossips. Khairi Jamaluddin, the 32-year-old son-in-law of PM Abdullah Badawi, has been given the go-ahead from the PM himself to contest the Rembau parliamentary constituency, confirming the rumors. Speculations and rumors are blowing like Hurricane Katrina that Khairi whose dream is to become the youngest Malaysian Prime Minister before the age of 40 is surely to win the Rembau seat. But it would be too obvious if he was to be given the easy ride to the Chief Minister post right after he wins the Rembau seat.

Talk about building dynasties, the PM Badawi could easily justify that he was merely following the foot-step of other politicians. Heck, there’re more than a dozen politicians who are building their family dynasties in the lucrative politics field in Malaysia. For example, the former Health Minister Chua Soi Lek who was recently caught with his pants-down in Sex-DVDs scandal is pushing his son to take over his place. Energy, Water and Communications Minister Lim Keng Yaik who is retiring from politics has ensure his son Lim Si Pin is contesting; the same way as Ling Hee Leong, the son of former MCA president Ling Liong Sik, who happened to becomes the controversial billionaire for a couple of months before the 1997-1998 Asia Crisis. Poor Ting Chew Peh of Gopeng suddenly found himself not wanted in favor of junior Ling and has to release the safe-seat.

However one trend is obvious with this round of 12th General Election – lots of new faces and last minute changes to the candidates list. The ruling government especially the UMNO is obviously banking on many new faces to ensure voters are given choices and not sick and tired of same old guards who thought they’re still welcomed despite their grandfather’s age. At the same time it’s perfectly alright to argue that it was a pre-planned action to wipe off all pro-Mahathir (former premier) supporters. It’s a perfect double-edged sword to help revitalize UMNO’s support as well as to kill off all Mahathir’s leftover.

The same thing can be said of MCA, another component party of ruling government. People are inclined to speculate that the Deputy President of MCA Chan Kong Choy stepped down to hide from the PKFZ, Malaysia’s biggest scandal. But it definitely holds water that the MCA President, Ong Ka Ting, was out to clear all Team-B leftover as well – part of internal cleansing. Chan Kong Choy was part of the Team-B while Ong Ka Ting belongs to Team-A before Ling Ling Sik and Lim Ah Lek came to an agreement to pass the baton to Ong and Chan.

But the most shamelessthing ever happens was definitely how Ong Ka Ting promoted his brother, arrogant Ong Ka Chuan, to important positions as secretary general of MCA despite losing big-time to spicy DAP MP Fong Po Kuan in Batu Gajah during 2004’s 11th general election and is now running away. That’s right, the elder brother of Ong Ka Ting who arrogantly predicted he could thrash Fong Po Kuan with 5,000 majority votes was instead humiliated when Fong won with more than 7,000 majority votes instead. Not taking any chances, Ong Ka Chuan chickened out and it appears he has found a save-seat in Tanjong Malimthis time around. Ong Ka Ting is rushing against time to ensure his brother could become MCA President in the plan to continue his dynasty.

On the same mission to continue their dynasty is Sarawak Chief Minister Taib Mahmud who control Cahya Mata Sarawak Berhad (KLSE: CMSB, stock-code 2852) which in turn controls Utama Banking Group (KLSE: UBG, stock-code 6831). The good father is making way for his son Sulaiman to take over the family dynasty. On the other hand the man who owns the palace comparable to Sultan of Selangor has been dropped to minimize damages. The man behind Zakaria Palace however has ensures that his daughter-in-law, Roselinda, could at least continue the family’s dynasty, temporarily.

What about the infamous MIC President Samy Vellu? There were talks earlier that Samy tried to push his favorite son, Vell Paari, to the frontline as part of his dynasty building effort but the mention of Maika (Vell Paari is the CEO of Maika Holding) might just waste a seat. Samy was trying to step down honorably when he announce this could be his last term but every Tom, Dick and Malaysian Indians know he was beating around the bush. Given chance, he preferred to die as MIC President than to retire peacefully.

Of course the oppositions are building their dynasties as well, albeit for different objective. Lim Kit Siang, Karpal Singh, Anwar Ibrahim are some of the opposition leaders who are grooming their sons / daughter to continue their struggle. Meantime, there has been wide spread report of UMNO members protestedagainst the dropping of their incumbent candidate but the aged former premier Mahathir could sense the building of political dynasties (MalaysiaKini). 

Other Articles That May Interest You …

• PM lied, Parliament dissolved, Elections on, Rumors won
• Mirror mirror on the wall who’s the biggest liar of all?
• Why you should become a politician in Malaysia
• Chua Soi Lek’s Sex DVDs, Cuckoo ends his Career
• No fees but shareholders fuming Ling Chicken Out
• Poor’s Hope in MAIKA – the Last Robbery
• Malaysia’s Biggest Scandal – Business as Usual
• Will There Be A Long Tussle For RHB?

Friday, February 22, 2008

Gamuda tumbled, opportunity to Buy or reason to Sell?

One of the main differences between foreign funds and local funds is the way they react to major movement of shareholders especially top guns who are driving the company. This is also the main reason why foreign funds could cut their losses to the minimum. Right, you can call them kiasu, kiasior whatever you wish but the fact remains that professional investors hate uncertainties. Ever wonder why the professional investors seem to be able to play the games many times more than you?

A good example is Gamuda Berhad’s (KLSE: GAMUDA, stock-code 5398) latest stock plunge that erased more than RM2 billion off its market capitalization in merely two-trading days, its biggest tumble is 10 years. Reason – the Malaysia second-largest builder’s Managing Director, Lin Yun Ling, who is also one of the founders cashed-out from the construction business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM, stock) immediately cut its price estimate to RM3.30 from RM4.40 a share after the Gamuda MD reduced his stake from 5.23 percent (104.7 million shares) to 1.73 percent (34.7 million shares), pocketing a cool RM350 million.

Although Lin will remains as managing director it doesn’t change the perception amongst the investors (well, at least JPMorgan thinks so) that the risk of Gamuda not getting more gigantic contracts increases. Furthermore in Malaysia it’s who you know rather than what you know that would land you with government contracts. Of course you have local analysts such as TA Securities who did not see any reason for alarm and in fact the firm upgraded Gamuda to “Buy” with a target price of RM5 a share.

The chain of thought from foreign funds were that if the founder and captain of the ship decided to cash out, he might not see any more “interesting project(s)” in the pipeline else he could wait for the fruits to ripe. Other traders might think this is bargain hunting opportunity, reading from technical chart. Nonetheless the trading rule from foreign professionals is to cut or sell when such major event happens. Hence depending on which school of thought you’re comfortable with, you have the option to either buy or sell the stock at this junction.

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Microsoft-Yahoo Showdown – Bill Gates’ first salvo

Stop haggling over the price like some housewives at wet-markets, says Bill Gates. It’s a logical statement to make when you’re talking about coughing extra billions if the bid price of $31 a share were to be raised. But the richest man on earth did not say the first bid price was final and not a take-it-or-leave-it offer. All he said was the offer price was very fair. While Yahoo Inc.’s (Nasdaq: YHOO, stock) supporters are running amok that they could see the last of Yahoo very soon, Bill Gates could be right about the offer price being fair. Yahoo is dying slowly but surely unless a genius miraculously could multiply its bottom-line instantly.

Gates also said Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT, stock) will invest more into search and competing against Google Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOG, stock) – with or without Yahoo. The billionaire also hinted that he was actually after the pool of great engineers - the backbone of Yahoo’s business of which the engineering work could leapfrog Microsoft faster than its current pace. Strangely if Microsoft could do that why didn’t the giant do it earlier? To be number three in terms of market share goes to show Microsoft wasn’t serious in the search business in the first place, no?

Whatever the strategies Microsoft is definitely playing “hard to get” and trying to paint a picture that it is not so desperate in having Yahoo on its dinner plate after all. It appears Microsoft Corp. is taking the hostile-route instead when sources that it will authorize a proxy fight at Yahoo this week. The move to pressure Yahoo board, which will cost Microsoft Corp $20 million - $30 million is definitely cheaper than giving away billions in extra should Microsoft chose to raise the bid.

It’s like a game of who blinks first at this stage, the same way option traders try to get the best “Ask” or “Bid” prices trading options. Analysts say Microsoft is using the proxy fight to circumvent a poison pill (and not to actually start a proxy war), a strategy used by companies to prevent unwanted takeovers by flooding the market with additional shares to dilute the holdings of hostile acquirers.

There’re at least two facts that point to a Microsoft-Yahoo merger ultimately.Firstly Yahoo shareholders seem to welcome and like the idea of Microsoft buying over Yahoo. Secondly there are reports that Yahoo is secretly giving away generous severance packages for employees to protect them in the event of layoffs. The ending of this merger episode is quite obvious – the writing on the wall says Microsoft will up its bid and Yahoo will gladly takes it.

Other Articles That May Interest You …

• A game to get higher price, Yahoo rejects Microsoft
• Google panicked, Yahoo to nag and Microsoft to borrow
• Yahoo hates Microsoft but Resistance is Futile
• Reasons Yahoo should accept Microsoft’s $44.6B offer

Have Profit Will Run, Make Money with Baidu in 1-Day

It’s not easy to make money trading option or investing stocks during such a bearish market. I hope you’re aware (or at least read about it either from analysts or StockTube) the bear is still roaming and perhaps will continue to do that for a couple of months to come. But when you’re trading in the stock markets that allow you to trade either way – up or down, long or short, buy Call Option or buy Put Option, then your chances of making money has just increased by 100 percent.

I have wrote and predicted why Baidu.com, Inc. (Nasdaq: BIDU, stock) might takes its pit-stop at $220 before going down to $200 level. Since then it has gone yo-yo up and down with great volatility testing investors / traders fear and greed but generally the stock was trading on downwards trend. It almost touched the pit-stop at $220 on 2nd Feb 2008 but staged a fast rebound to above $230 level thereafter. Looking at the chart it appears the $280 is the latest resistance level for Baidu.com.

Based on the price-volume, Dow and Nasdaq behavior I opened up a position – BIDU Mar 260 Put Option yesterday (19th Feb 2008). Satisfied with the profit, I closed the position today (20th Feb 2008) netting about 38 percent profit in 1-dayof trading. As a matter of fact I could wait to scoop more money but I do not wish to become a pig. Remember the “Bull and Bear makes money, Pig get slaughtered” phrase? The market could turn the table on me anytime now so I thought it would be wise to be contented with the profit.

There’re times to be greedy and let your profit builds but certainly not today, not this round. In fact if you ever noticed, traders nowadays tend to lock their profit and run pretty fast without think twice about letting their trades exposed for another day, if possible – a sign that the volatility of the stock market has get into their nerves. It could be due to the fact that U.S. economy is still so uncertain. Nevertheless there’s one thing that never change – the pace of making money in Bear Market remains faster than Bull Market.

Other Articles That May Interest You …

• Take profit on Friday Expiration, Baidu is Sinking
• Great time to make money on Baidu Stock
• BAIDU Stock’s resting target might be at $300
• Take Money off the table on Baidu, watchout for Apple
• Baidu mourning while Google and Apple near support

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

MAS to acquire AirAsia - Can’t Beat so Eat them Alive?

When the managing director of MAS, Idris Jala, said the company is interested in M&A (mergers and acquisitions) with other Asia Pacific carriers to grow the company, it didn’t raise my attention. The reason was quite easy – on its own, the Malaysia Airline System (KLSE: MAS, stock-code 3786) does not have the financial strength to flex its muscle beyond the soil of Malaysia. Of course the national carrier could suck up public fund (considering government is the major shareholders) to do it but what was the whole objective(s)? Unless it’s to show off that it’s capable of eating up (or rather swallow) other airlines within Asia Pacific, there’s simply no reason for it to do so. Furthermore the carrier has just made some profit after many quarters of red.

But then the real intention was revealed when Idris Jala said the airline actually does not discount the possibility of mergers and acquisitions with low-cost carriers, including AirAsia Berhad (KLSE: AIRASIA, stock-code 5099). Now, that really raised my eyebrows not because the carrier finally expressed what a normal government-linked company will do (to swallow other successful company instead of building it up itself) but the timing of such announcement. Everybody in the industry knew how Idris Jala hates Tony Fernandes (the boss of AirAsia) for obvious reason. And if not for “invincible hands”, AirAsia would not be allowed to fly to Singapore under a reciprocal arrangement (Tiger Airways allowed to fly to Kuala Lumpur).

The surprising word from Idris Jala was his admission that competition between MAS and AirAsia is good for improvement, something very rare when the stubborn national carrier chose to pull AirAsia to sink together by putting all kind of obstacles by means of political interference previously. There’re only two reasonswhy MAS suddenly talks sense. Firstly the managing director is mad and the second reason would be the protected national carrier plans to acquire AirAsia,in a not very distance future – if you can’t beat them, eat them alive.

The MAS managing director actually hinted to the (possible) plan of acquiring AirAsia - major shareholder Khazanah Nasional Berhad has agreed to dilute its current stake-holding of 69 per cent in the airline. Obviously MAS does not and will not give away free cash to Tony Fernandes, the same way Time DotCom Berhad (TIMECOM: stock-code 5031) asked money from DIGI.com Berhad (DIGI: stock-code 6947) success. Therefore, the M&A could see share-swap with the ultimate MAS and / or Khazanah becomes the major shareholder in the merged entity.

Would Tony Fernandes sell? Nobody hates money and if the offer is good why not? Furthermore the whole purpose was to make good money out of his brain cells and sweat over the years in building the empire and branding of AirAsia. To ensure the AirAsia remains profitable under MAS’s stable and not just an empty vessel after the acquisition, Tony could be given the free hand to run AirAsia while MAS becomes the holding company. Who said it’s hard to become a parasite? As long as both parties happily living together, it’s a good marriage. MAS’s own budget airline, FireFly, could be easily absorbed by AirAsia through the deal.

The main question to minority shareholders is definitely the offer price of the deal.Would the minority shareholders taken for a wild ride again? If Tony is not interested in the deal due to reason(s) known to him, could this (M&A) the reason why the rumors that Tony Fernandes was thinking of privatization? Pressured to work with a bunch of clowns is bad but to be forced to sell cheaply is worse.

Other Articles That May Interest You …

• Tony’s AirAsia, to Privatise or Not to Privatise
• Bail-Out with a piece of paper worth RM700 million
• Monopoly No More, AirAsia to fly to Singapore
• 50th Independence yet MAS Cannot Take the Turbulence
• AirAsia X to Finally Take-Off after Early Turbulence

Monday, February 18, 2008

Badawi attracted international attention, the wrong way

There’re many ways to skin a cat, so goes the saying. As far as a leader of a nation is concerned, there’re many ways to attract international attention as well. Former premier Mahathir chose to worship the Japan while blasted the Western during his dictatorship, so much so that he was labeled as anti-Semitic by United States, Australia, Canada, Britain, European Union and of course Israel. Those were the days when Mahathir was the outspoken Prime Minister of Malaysia.

His successor, current Abdullah Badawi, hope to achieve the same feat – the wrong way. Internationally he hasn’t achieves much recognition until recently. Everything started from street demonstration. First there were thousands of lawyers marching for “Justice”. Then you had the peaceful BERSIH and Hindraf demonstrations, only to be greeted with water cannon, teargas and whatever chemical weapon in the name of public security. BERSIH peaceful demonstration was dominated by Malay although you can see Chinese and Indian participants that swelled to 40,000 people. Hindraf on the other hand was a demonstration staged by Indian. Five Hindraf leaders have since been “locked” at the pleasure of the Prime Minister in the name ISA, the dragonian detention without trial.

The latest peaceful demonstration was held Saturday by more than 300 people. The “Rose March” was to present roses (by children) to Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi and to request for release the five Indian rights group Hindraf leaders detained. Not only was the PM not available to receive the roses (perhaps Badawi thought he could only receive roses during Valentine Day), police detained 160 people in scuffles during the rally and later outside a Hindu temple nearby. Most have since been released but lawyers claimed a female protestor - one of nine who are being held till Monday - was abused in custody. Her lawyer, Gobind Singh, claimed she was beaten up by the police during detention and denied medical treatment – reported AFP.

Abdullah has the cheek to condemn the protests, saying it was an attempt to disrupt the elections. Strangely when the Hindraf claimed the Indian were systematically marginalized, Abdullah Badawi denied it strongly and said the Indian are well taken care of. If what the PM claimed is true then he should just let the peaceful protesters go ahead and be there to receive the roses (roses are not cheap mind you). If he has indeed taken good care of the minority Indian, then logically these people have no reason to demonstrate, no?

If the government has taken care of Indian community, then PM should not have said that street protests and anger within the Indian community could have an impact on how the government fares in the general elections. The rest of the Indians will continue to give their votes to the ruling government (there’s no government as of today since the Parliament has been dissolved) just like the old time and the PM should have good night sleeps without worrying about the 300 or so demonstrators. But this is not the case. The PM, deputy PM, Samy Vellu (claimed to be the Indian community’s leader) and the rest of the leaders are dead concern about Indian votes, not to mention the Chinese votes that will surely swing to oppositions this time around.

No doubt this time Badawi’s team is banking purely on Malay votes, which stays united for the coming 12th General Election. The international coverage on how Badawi manages the peaceful demonstrations has indeed gives him the reputation as the leader of a police state.Mahathir offended the Western countries but he won the Islamic and third world countries’ heart. What about Abdullah Badawi? If he can’t even manage his own country with respect from his own people, how could he expect to earn the same respect from other leaders globally? MalaysiaKini reported that Indians across the world demonstrated outside the offices of Malaysian embassies. Maybe he’s super satisfy and proud of his version of Islam Hadhari but according to Wikipedia, even the theory of Islam Hadhari was originally founded by the first Prime Minister of Malaysia, Tunku Abdul Rahman in 1957 but was under different name.

He should start by opening up his monopoly in granting permits to demonstrators not associated with his own party (or allies). If his own son in law, Khairy, could have free hands in organizing demonstrators (against official guest US State Secretary Rice not so long ago) with guaranteed police permit (or was there one in the first place?), why can’t the others? And he should at least put his leadership level on par with other leaders by not insulting his own intelligence by saying:“There’s never been peaceful gathering”.

Other Articles That May Interest You …

• BBC News – Malaysian police break up protest
• Press TV, Iran – Malaysian police break up flower protest
• International Herald Tribune – Malaysian police break up ethnic Indian demonstration
• CNN – Detentions over Malaysian Hindu rally
• AlJazeera – Hindu protest broken up in Malaysia
• Channel NewsAsia – Malaysian police fire tear gas at protesters
• Kyodo News – Malaysia’s minority Indians rally for equality ahead of election
• PM lied, Parliament dissolved, Elections on, Rumors won
• Rally, Racial and the Race towards the Election
• Two Major Rallies within 1 month – great score for PM
• Malaysia’s Biggest Rallies since 1998 – KL under siege
• Lawyers Long March to Save the Judiciary – Photos Talk

Sunday, February 17, 2008

Astro trying to make money with Virgin

Astro which has a virtual monopoly on pay-TV services in Malaysia has almost nowhere to expand except internationally although its venture into Indonesia was met with losses. Reuters reported that Astro All Asia Network Plc (KLSE: ASTRO, stock-code 5076) is now trying to bid for United Kingdom-based SMG Plc.’s (LON: SMG) radio broadcaster Virgin Radio which operates as a commercial pop and rock music station. SMG put Virgin Radio for sale as part of the plan to dispose non-core assets.

Astro is competing with three other British bidders namely Global Radio, Absolute Radio and UTV Media (LON: UTV) with bidding prices ranging from 60 million to 70 million pounds for Virgin Radio.Virgin Radio has been serving UK since 1993 and is the nation’s only commercial pop and rock music station. So what was this bidding all about from Astro, one of the pets that generate money to Malaysian billionaire Ananda Krishnan?

Through years of monopoly the pay-TV market in Malaysia has entered the saturation level, not that Malaysia is a country with huge population that Astro could leverage on. Ananda Krishnan’s investment in Indonesia’s Astro-venture screwed-up big time after it registered anet loss of RM54.18 million for the second quarter ended July 31 2007, dragging down Astro’s bottom line. Since then rumors after rumors that the tycoon plans to take the company private but none seems to materialize, so far.

In Apr 2007, Virgin Radio claimed its “first” when made its broadcasts available via Sony’s PlayStation 3 and Nintendo’s Wii. Instantly gamers could listen to streaming radio, buy tickets and CDs as well as download tracks through Virgin Radio Ticket store via their consoles. But the coolest of all was the option fromVirgin Radio to play iTunes online, the world’s best digital music jukebox from Apple Inc (Nasdaq: AAPL, stock). It appears Astro finally is catching up with thelatest technology and leverage on it to make money (besides those satellite dishes of course).

Other Articles That May Interest You …

• The tale of pay TV business, ASTRO and NBC
• Would ASTRO Stock Perform Better with Games?
• D-Day for MAXIS Shareholders but A.K.’s Fortune Doubles
• ASTRO Bullying Customers But Minister Is Helpless
• ASTRO Measat-3 Facing Problem Migrating Channels

Affordable and Magic of Air Travel with Silverjet

Donald Trump used to be a billionaire and lost everything with lots of debts, so much so that once he envied man on the street because those people have more money than him. But he learnt his lesson and diversification was the name of the game. He’s back to the status of a billionaire now of course. Now his businesses are so diversified that most of us might know him for his TV-show, Apprentice. You saw how he crafted his name with buildings, apartments and even his own helicopter. Owning a helicopter or jet could be the ultimate way to show your success.

If you have a fraction of the money to spend you can however book a jet, well literary, and pretend as if you own it. Silverjet for example could fly you between London and New York as well as London and Dubai. First thing first, what do you get by flying with Silverjet? How about dedicated security and check-in at the Silver Lounge just 30 minutes before departure, not to mention the complementary WiFi all parts of the private terminals facility? Maybe 6’3” flat beds, seats equipped with laptop-power, seat-back massager, in-flight entertainment and great food by Le Caprice could makes you drool.

Booking is easy as everything is online and can be performed in four steps. Once confirmed you can proceed to select your meal, choose your seat and complete the check-in – all online. Silverjet provides 24-hour phone support to answer your enquiries or complaints. Silverjet’s schedule includes double flights to New Yorkand Dubai. If the customer testimonials are anything to goes by, Silverjet indeed provides value for money flying experience that you should try.

Friday, February 15, 2008

Make Money TIPS for 4-D and 3-D Punters and Gamblers

The heat of 12th Malaysia General Election already started this year, 2008, although it has not reach the climax and boiling level yet. It’s not too much to say that most of the politicians are still warming up their belly since the final candidates list is not officially out yet. Majority of the “potential” candidates, except for the top leaders of the respective parties, are still in the dark whether they’ll be picked. For example there’re rumors that the controversial (or rather incapable) Works Minister, Samy Vellu, might be dropped after serving for 30-years. Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi neither acknowledged nor denied Samy be sent packing.

The most surprising news to all including oppositions is definitely the generous 13 days of campaigning period. But everyone was willing to bet their life & soul that it was more to do with PM Badawi’s lucky number rather than being nice guy and generous. His official car registration number is 13 and he decided to follow the advice of his feng-shui master to dissolve the Parliament on 13th Feb 2008. Born in the year of Rabbit his master said he would benefit from the number 13 and having his grandson born on 13th, it’s hard for Badawi not to be superstitious.

Now, for 4-D punters there’re more numbers to bet. There’re 222 parliamentary and 505 state seats up for grab. Nomination date is 24th Feb 2008. Depending on your creativity, the list of numbers that you could bet might be huge:

4-D numbers to bet:

• 1313 – PM’s favorite number
• 2402 – Nomination date, 24th Feb
• 2139 – Last 4 digits being 10,922,139 registered voters.
• 1085 – Last 4 digits from 221,085 postal voters
• 8308 – Polling date of 8th Mar 2008

3-D numbers to bet:

• 222 – Parliamentary seats
• 505 – State seats
• 803 - Polling date of 8th Mar 2008

There you are some of the hot numbers which could strike big. You might want toconsider 0000 as the potential lucky number as well. Why 0000? Let’s give the PM Badawi the benefit of doubt that he lied about the Parliament dissolution. So why he announced the dissolution when less than 24 hours ago he denied it? Besides lying through his teeth the other theory was he actually “forgot” (thus the number 0000) about the dissolution date. Now, stop snoozing and remember to rush to the nearest number forecast outlet if you wish to strike good money.

Forget about stocks investing for the time being and ignore those analysts who said you should jump into stock market now the election is confirmed. With Bernanke’s confirmation of U.S. sluggish economy and the current KLCI at above 1,400 points, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to tell you the election rally has already been discounted. The attention should be, at least temporarily, at the outcome of the coming 12th general election. **Please buy me some beers if the above numbers strikes**

Other Articles That May Interest You …

• PM lied, Parliament dissolved, Elections on, Rumors won
• Land of Paradise with Great Leader and Mathematicians
• Why you should become a politician in Malaysia

Sluggish Bernanke - Bear will roam till end of the year

The last thing you wish to see, or rather hear, is the pessimism from the most powerful person in charge of nation’s economy. This of course applies to person(s) who is transparent about the economy status and do not beat around the bush, never mind he was late in taking the necessary action to put the economy back on track. It’s much better than some leaders who lied blatantly right through his eyes without a blink.

The Dow Jones might fell 175 points but if you weight what Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said against how much Dow suffered Wednesday, it’s actually not too bad. On Valentine Day, Ben predicted a “sluggish” economy until later in the year and more mortgage-related losses at banks – giving obvious hint that further interest cuts are on the horizon.

Bernanke’s pessimism was so obvious that the chief market analyst at Jefferies & Co. joked the Feds Chairman was more bearish on the economy than he (and other analysts) was before. And when you have the most powerful person said how things could be getting worse, not better, you can’t blame the market to turn reddish. Nonetheless you should be grateful to see the Dow only took thesmall beating of 175 points and not 300 points or more. Maybe the market has been bleeding for too long that there’re simply not much blood left, which is good as it indicates the bottom could be around the corner.

So which type of investors actually makes good and easy money out of current situation? Who else if not currency traders and speculators?

Other Articles That May Interest You …

• Another 50 basis points cut but Dow still in red
• Stocks recover but too early to heave a sight of relief?
• Surprise rate cut of 0.75 percent – glad it’s so Bloody

Thursday, February 14, 2008

Tradewinds Boss raised the previous Pathetic Offer

Four months ago businessman Syed Mokhtar tried to purchase stocks he didn’t own from shareholders cheaply. The offer prices were ridiculously cheap as if he was trying to insult the shareholders’ intelligence, although his primary intention was to ensure he get hold of the RM597 million to repay debts totaling RM355 million. For example his offer price for Tradewinds Plantation Berhad (KLSE: TWSPLNT, stock-code 6327) was merely RM2.73 a share when the pre-suspension price was RM2.74. Nobody in their right mind would have accepted the offer for obvious reason.

Tradewinds Plantation has a fair-value of RM4.70, RM4.50, RM2.95 and RM2.40 a share estimated by Merrill Lynch, Aseambankers, AmResearch and Kenanga Investment Bank respectively. Although Tradewinds Plantation was trading at a high multiple, the company could easily be takeover target considering the bullishness of crude palm oil prices during that period. Shareholders of course threw the offer letter into the dustbin the moment it reached their mailbox - you didn’t accept the offer, did you?

Today Perspective Lane (M) Sdn Bhd, controlled by Syed Mokhtar raised the offer for all the shares it doesn’t already own in Tradewinds Plantations to RM3.79 a share (from RM2.73 previously) – RM1.06 a share more. The counter which stock price was RM3.66 pre-suspension today is expected to jump when it’s stock resume trading tomorrow. This is a classic example of how shareholders could get a better offer price if stay united in facing intimidation from major shareholder(s).

Other Articles That May Interest You …

• Syed Mokhtar only interested in RM597 million

Getting $600 Free Money, dream of a lifetime

If you’re a good American citizen who pay taxes or earn at least $3,000, you’re one of the 130 million lucky people selected by President Bush for the“Rebate Checks” scheduled to arrive at your doorstep around May 2008. Most taxpayers will receive a check of up to $600 for individuals and $1,200 for couples, with an additional $300 for each child. Bush’s $168 billion rescue package, Economy Rescue Bill, passed with lightning speed could easily become one of the envies to other parts of the world.

Just imagine what the same money could do to the drooling Malaysian voterswho are scheduled to cast their votes in early Mar 2008 after the PM Badawi dissolved the Parliament yesterday. The prime minister who was labeled to have done almost nothing throughout his four years against his 2004 election promises could easily repeat the same victory, no?

There are 10.9 million eligible voters in this nation of 27 million people and to give away $600 to each of the voters will cost the coffer$6.54 billion, a small amount to pay considering the recently launched Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy (Score) managed to attract a whopping RM500 billionworth of private investment. Just keep launching more “Corridors” and the “election investment” will pay for itself. Am I genius or what? Stop dreaming!

Anyway, the Economy Rescue plan by Bush was to force the money into American’s pocket so that they could spend and energize the U.S. economy to prevent it into recession, officially. But the plan might not work because according to a poll done, 45 percent people indicated they planned to pay off bills with 32 percent said they would save or invest the money. With only 19 percent said they would spend their rebates money, Bush could see the plan goes down the drain. The $168 billion hot money at best could push the recession timing into 2009instead of current 2008.

Other Articles That May Interest You …

• PM lied, Parliament dissolved, Elections on, Rumors won
• Land of Paradise with Great Leader and Mathematicians

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

PM lied, Parliament dissolved, Elections on, Rumors won

One day after Malaysia Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi lied denied the Parliament will be dissolved (today) the guessing game came to an end when the PM announced today that he had met the Yang Di Pertuan Agong (King) in the morning and received His Majesty's consent to dissolve Parliament. The PM apparently made the announcement at a hastily convened press conference at his office Wednesday afternoon making people wonders if he indeed has overslept and thus forgotten today’s schedule. MalaysiaKinireported it earlier than theStar.

Abdullah Badawi however still deny to announce the date Malaysians would cast their ballots, passing the baton to the Election Commission (EC) to which EC said it would announce polling and nomination day on Thursday (tomorrow). Speculation on the street for the Nomination and Election Day are on 21st Feb and 2nd Mar 2008 respectively. Analysts expect Badawi to win this 12th snap general election again but with eroded majority (from his 2004’s 90 percent seats won).

Who said Badawi who is a Muslim himself is not superstitious? Looking at how anxiously he waited for today, 13th – his favorite number, to dissolve the Parliament is enough to prove his belief in the number “13”. He couldn’t wait for the Chinese New Year celebration, which normally takes fifteen nights, to end on Chap Goh Meh before dissolve the Parliament. Nevertheless it was better than before when Badawi ignored the sensitivity of the Indian voters when he held his UMNO’s general assemblyduring Deepavali, a gazetted public holiday for Hindus.

Voting must be held 60 days after parliament is dissolved, but the government traditionally allows just a two-week campaign period (a strategy to prevent oppositions from gaining more votes via comprehensive campaigning), meaning the ballot in early March. This election will see 222 seats to be contested. Meanwhile DAP parliamentary opposition leader Lim Kit Siang condemned the election announcement which falls during celebrations for Chinese New Year as being insensitive to other cultures and religions in the country.

It’s time for the Malaysians to vote (wisely or foolishly?) again. If you’re a registered voter, you can recheck your area of voting to prevent from suddenly transferred hundreds of miles away in order for “phantom voters” to take your place. Check it here.

Other Articles That May Interest You …

• Land of Paradise with Great Leader and Mathematicians
• How you’re being taken for a ride by the Suckers
• Have the Chinese New Year and Election Rally started?
• 2008 Election Polls – USA and Malaysia
• Rally, Racial and the Race towards the Election
• Delayed Toll Hike – bait for voters before election

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Land of Paradise with Great Leader and Mathematicians

There’re not many investment heavens in this globe with Malaysia being one of the paradise. To justify Malaysia as one of the best managed countries you just got to look at some of the astounding announcements by the government. Heck, this could be the only nation that everyone should fight their heads off to become citizen or at least enroll in the “My Second Home Program”.

Malaysia Second Finance Minister Nor Yakcop claimed the country per capita income rose by 40% in 2007 compared with 2004 - RM22,345 (US$6,452) compared with RM15,819 (US$4,163) previously. Strangely the country’s GDP (gross domestic product) only grew by 5.0, 5.9 and 6.0 percent respectively in 2005, 2006 and 2007. One would wonder why U.S. didn’t snatch such a brilliant fellow to replace Ben Bernanke who did a pretty bad job. Maybe Uncle Ben’s mathematic sucks big time compare to Yakcop.

Guess it’s true that in the land of the blind, the one-eyed Mamak is the king – that’s because the Finance Minister who happens to be the Prime Minister himself didn’t do much except to read from the prepared text during Budget Day. The best part is where the same person who wiped the nation’s coffer of RM30 billion from currency speculation scandal in 1990s is now the most powerful person in the Finance Ministry. But those were just paper-losses, no big deal. Nick Leeson who lost U$1.38 Billion and bankrupted Barings Bank went to jail because his magnitude of loss was just a fraction of what Nor Yakcop did.

Again in the land of the retards, the idiot becomes the oracle and so Nor Yakcop’s outrages claim that the nation’s inflation was just over 2 percent caused everyone’s jaw dropped to the floor. Such an expert is needed badly during the current election fever. It’s all about how you play with the numbers. You don’t think the election is still a year away when after decades of uncertainty suddenly more than 900 farmers in Coldstream New Village, Bidor, were given a 30-year lease for the land they have been toiling on, do you?

Today the land of the paradise is presented with yet another set of amazing figures – total trade surpassed RM1 trillion mark, again. In actual fact the RM1 trillion was the value of export and import combined – RM605.1 billion and RM504.57 billion respectively. Knowing most of the people living in the nation would most likely jump off from their bed pounding their chest in pride with the “trillion” word, the International Trade and Industry Minister played the psychology game very well indeed. It’s like saying you earned a monthly salary of RM6,000 but spent RM5,000 yet declared your total money of RM11,000. This is another minister the developed countries such as U.S. or U.K. should snatch if they need great brain.

The ability of the Prime Minister Badawi with his great vision of multiple “Coridor projects” indeed had put his predecessor Mahathir to shame. The newly Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy (Score) that managed to attract RM500 billion worth of private investment made in 24 memorandum of understanding (MOUs) on the first day of the launching itself speaks volume. Where else could you find such a quality leader? He finally shared his great sorrow recently when he said he works very hard, taking great offence of people who said he didn’t work. If Malaysia is not a land of paradise I do not know what is.

Other Articles That May Interest You …

• Mirror mirror on the wall who’s the biggest liar of all?
• Why you should become a politician in Malaysia
• Tale of a Producer that runs out of Stock
• Rally, Racial and the Race towards the Election

Sunday, February 10, 2008

A game to get higher price, Yahoo rejects Microsoft

As expected Yahoo Inc.’s board is set to reject Microsoft Corp.’s $44.6 billion takeover bid with an official announcement on Monday’s morning. Yahoo’s board was merely doing their job with this decision as analysts expect the board members to at least do whatever in their capacity to force Microsoft to raise their offer price. The game is almost over for Yahoo but the company which was eating Google Inc.’s dust since is expected to buy more times to prolong the bid.

Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT, stock) could now take its $31 a share – half cash, half stock bid offer directly to the shareholders via tender offer, bypassing the 10-member board but such action would mean an open war with the board members. Alternatively Microsoft could sweeten its bid by raising the offer price to $35 a share - a move that analysts think could conclude the deal. UBS analysts think $34 a share is good enough. Nevertheless not all shareholders would take the $31 as a good deal especially those who bought into the stocks higher than that.

Yahoo could be more aggressive and want that Microsoft to raise its price to at least $40 per share again, Microsoft’s previous offer price about a year ago but ended up shooed away. At $40 a share Microsoft is expected to dig deeper into its own pocket for additional $12 billion, although most likely the software giant will borrows for the deal.

It really depends on the big picture. If Microsoft is very damn sure that Yahoo’s already upset shareholders are drooling with the $31 a share offer, a higher bid of $35 per share could just do the trick. Furthermore just because Microsoft had offered $40 per share to Yahoo a year ago doesn’t mean Yahoo’s current (struggling) condition is justifiable enough to ask for the same price tag again, not to mention there’re no other bidders interested in Yahoo.

To put pressure on the board members, Microsoft is expected to set a deadline for its offer. There’s a report that Microsoft could seek to oust Yahoo’s board at its next election should Microsoft sees the current stubborn board as the stumbling block. As much as the internet giant Yahoo’s board wishes to shoo off Microsoft, it better be ready to convince stockholders that it could give a better return on their shares investment than the 62 percent premium offered.

As for sentimental Jerry Yang who founded Yahoo Inc. (Nasdaq: YHOO, stock) with fellow David Filo in 1995, there’s only one alternative for him if he really wish to see his crumbling empire remains independent – to outsource its search advertising business to Google in exchange for hundreds of millions of profit, something that Yahoo hate to do and Google Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOG, stock) likes to have. The bigger question is whether Microsoft could leverage and maintain Yahoo’s large pool of loyal users and internal expertise to further grow the company, not to mention solution to the potential working culture clashes.

Other Articles That May Interest You …

• Google panicked, Yahoo to nag and Microsoft to borrow
• Yahoo hates Microsoft but Resistance is Futile
• Reasons Yahoo should accept Microsoft’s $44.6B offer

Friday, February 08, 2008

Stocks Investing for Year of Rat – can feng shui tells?

Every year you can read without fail the stock markets forecast from feng shui experts, especially when you enter the yearly Chinese New Year (such as today which officially is the Year of Rat). StockTube received numerous emails asking which sector to watch out (more like what stocks I predict would move and could make money as a result of such movement) – I wish I know. Get real, if I know in advance I would not be blogging now because I’ll be too busy counting money and consulting tax consultant on how to pay the least tax to the authorities *grin*.

If these feng shui experts are so damn good they wouldn’t have to work, would they? However based on the survivability of feng shui for thousands of years, you simply can’t ignore this art altogether though you should take it as a guidance and not the Holy Grail. Furthermore with most Chinese businessmen from Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, China, Taiwan and other parts of the world consulted feng shui experts in one way or another before how wrong could it be? Even Donald Trump consulted feng shui for his empire’s prosperity mind you.

For guidance sake, what’s in the stock for the year 2008, the ear of Rat? Feng shui specialists arepredicting a gloomy year for shares for the year of Rat. It’s because the water element will cool the stock market. Another feng shui master from Hong Kong, Raymond Lo, predicted that industries linked to earth and metal will flourish during the Year of the Rat – meaning you should dump your money into property and mining stocks, not that hard to predict since the prices of gold has skyrocketed.

While you can’t really dismiss feng shui as totally superstitious especially when you’re seeking harmony and balance flow of “qi” to improve health, relationship, education and wealth, I still haven’t read any person who built his / her fortunes from stock market solely on feng shui. Now back to the stocks that one can invest for the year of 2008. Assuming the U.S. economy will continue to be in the limbo stage, the safest stocks to invest are still the defensive stocks. I mean stocks that are recession proof or good dividend paying stocks should be your preferred stocks.

Nevertheless if the equity market that you’re trading allows you to profit from either way – up or down, then there’s nothing to worry about. In fact during bearish market one tends to make money much faster – heard of it takes days only if not hours for stocks to drop like a rock after it took weeks or months to build up?

Other Articles That May Interest You …

• Dividend Yield Stocks (Part 1) – Berjaya Sports Toto
• Dividend Yield Stocks (Part 2) – JT International

Tuesday, February 05, 2008

Google panicked, Yahoo to nag and Microsoft to borrow

Yahoo might hates Microsoft and Microsoft in turns hates Google but Google hates Microsoft even more. Looks like a love (or rather hate)triangle relationship, don’t you think? In theory if Microsoft were to leave Google alone without putting a stick between Google’s legs everything would be calm. Microsoft would continue dominating the personal computers’ operating system and Google will continue to make tons of money from its domination in the search engine. Yahoo, on the other hand will continue to rot the way it is rotting now.

But Microsoft couldn’t close its eyes and pretend Google will not overtake it as the next new Microsoft, only this time Google might makes multiple times of money from online advertising compared to what Microsoft did to personal computers in 1980s and 1990s. As with any other business it’s good to have a loser next to you, in this case Yahoo, as without a loser people will not know how great you are. And so Google continued to succeed while Yahoo continued to rot and each time Yahoo missed its earnings, investors rejoice by buying Google’s stock or Call Options (you did, didn’t you?) – until now.

Google’s Fear and Strategy

When Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT, stock) suddenly announced its $44.6 billion bid for Yahoo Inc. (Nasdaq: YHOO, stock), Google somehow panicked. Almost instantly, Google called Yahoo with offer of a partnership – Yahoo outsourcing its search to Google and split the profit. Right, suddenly Google becomes good friend of Yahoo. Some of you might think Google should still be able to smile as Google still commands 60 percent while a new Microsoft-Yahoo is still at a distance 30% of the market share. What really scare the shit out of Google is the potential of Microsoft-Yahoo’s in the vertical advertising network – a huge threat to Google’s Adsense.

From Google’s 2007 revenue of $16.6 billion, about 10 percent or $1.64 billion of Adsense revenue was generated by Google Network sites. Google missed its earnings forecast last week primarily due to weakness in its AdSense program – poor click-through from MySpace despite its guarantee of $900 million to News Corp. Microsoft and Yahoo’s financial portal, MSN Money and Yahoo! Finance respectively, are the two top financial sites. If Microsoft-Yahoo decides to sell ads to smaller publishers (ahem, such as StockTube) besides their vertical sites,most publishers would potentially switch to them instead of Adsense.

At the same time Google Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOG, stock) has begun to lay the groundwork to try to delay but definitely not to stop the Microsoft-Yahoo deal, not that Google can in the first place. It’s more of a payback for Google since Microsoft did almost the same thing when the former acquired DoubleClick for $3.1 billion in Apr 2007. Google cannot simply protest from the online advertising monopoly but it sure can argue about Microsoft-Yahoo! monopoly in the instant messaging (IM) and web-based email market share.

Yahoo is in Microsoft’s bag literally

However Microsoft has the upper hand in the sense that a combined Microsoft-Yahoo could create better competition (and stronger competitor) to Google’s current monopoly in internet advertising and search business. Antitrust experts say any review is likely to be lengthy, given the overlap in Microsoft's and Yahoo's businesses, but ultimately decided in Microsoft's favor. The only problem would be with the European Commission since Europe has a stricter scrutiny policy.

What could Yahoo do? Yahoo can’t take the company private because to do so would means 4,500 employees (31 percent of its workforce) need to be sent packing besides selling $12.5 billion worth of other investment such as Alibaba.com and Yahoo Japan. Already potential white knights such as News Corp., AT&T Inc. and Comcast Corp. have chickened out from the fight.

Yahoo however can nag for a higher offer price and some analysts already bet that Microsoft could end up paying as much as $35 a share. Microsoft is expected to borrow money to finance the acquisition, the first time the giant ever do so.

How to make money from their stocks

StockTube wrote that you should short Google Inc.’s stock the moment the news broke, and you should hold on to your profit as everything is pointing to a Google’s stock sell-off. Assuming Yahoo can’t do much except ask for a higher price ($35 a share?) you might want to long Yahoo stock.

Other Articles That May Interest You …

• Yahoo hates Microsoft but Resistance is Futile
• Reasons Yahoo should accept Microsoft’s $44.6B offer

Monday, February 04, 2008

How much could Primus Pacific expand EON Capital?

Despite its highest offer to buy RHB (Rashid Hussain Bhd) at an offer price of RM1.97 a share and RM5.00 a share for RHB Capital Berhad (KLSE: RHBCAP, stock-code 1066), EON Capital Berhad lost the bid to a lower but government-linked entity EPF (Employess Provident Fund) which only offered RM1.80 and RM4.80 a share respectively for RHB and RHBCAP. Those happened about a year ago in Mar, 2007 and since then EON Capital was subjected to numerous rumors and speculation that its days were as good as game over.

The main factor why EON Capital Berhad (KLSE: EONCAP, stock-code 5266) would see its D-Day since the failure to acquire RHB was because one of its shareholders - DRB-HICOM Berhad (KLSE: DRBHCOM, stock-code: 1619). The controlling shareholder of DRB-Hicom, Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Albukhary wasdesperately wanted to dispose the 20.2 percent equity in EON Capital for quite some time as he needs cash to reduce DRB Hicom debts which totaled RM1.9 billion.

Hong Kong-based Primus Pacific Partners Ltd. whose major shareholders include the Qatar Investment Authority, the Kuwait Investment Authority and Taiwan's fifth-largest financial holding firm, Fubon Financial confirmed that it plans to buy20 percent of EON Capital Berhad for 1.34 billion ringgit ($415 million) from DRB-Hicom today. This means Primus Pacific will pay DRB-HicomRM9.55 per share or a premium of 55 per centto its current price – a high price since it comes with the single largest shareholder status.

EON Capital has total assets of RM39 billion and the price RM9.55 a share represents 2.16 times its book value. However Primus does not plan to make a general offer though. Malaysia's central bank has approved the transaction and the acquisition is expected to be completed in March at the earliest. After acquired the EON Capital, Primus plans to inject capital to expand its staff and management team.

It would be interesting to see if EON Capital could play a bigger role besides the current image as a lender in national automaker Proton. To do so Primus needs free hand to do what it believes would beneficial to its newly acquired baby. But would the rest of the shareholders especially the government-linked entities prove to be hindrance block?

Other Articles That May Interest You …

• Desperate DRB-Hicom to sell EON Capital to Primus?
• EON Capital to Become A Takeover Target Now?
• General Electric To Buy Malaysia EON Capital?

Yahoo hates Microsoft but Resistance is Futile

Almost every blog that I visited has the story about the Microsoft and Yahoo in the making – probably the deal of the year 2008. A mind-boggling $44.6 billion offer with half of it in cash that will indeed drains Microsoft’s cash reserve, some reports said this is perhaps the last thing Bill Gates’ empire could do to give Google some real punches. The fact is both Microsoft and Yahoo could not topple Google Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOG, stock) individually even since.

On one hand the world’s most valuable technology company was strategizing and pulling its own hair thinking on ways to bring Google down, or at least stop it from growing unstoppable. Just like a cat waiting patiently for the mouse, Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT, stock) was waiting for the right time to pounce on Yahoo Inc. (Nasdaq: YHOO, stock). On the other hand Yahoo was getting from bad to worse, earnings wise. Not sure if all the planets are aligned but Microsoft sure thought so with such a generous offer – 62 percent premium.

People who do not understand the online advertisement business might think the $44.6 billion was rather too much. It was reported that internet advertising is expected to double in the next three years. Big deal, so just how much is this so-called online advertisement business? A whopping $80 billion in 2010 from $40 billion in 2007 – hence you can see just how much money Google was making and why Microsoft was so damn jealous of this internet search engine company started by Stanford guys. However Yahoo has built its own strong brand, so expect Yahoo to give a tough fight against falling on the lap of Microsoft.

Rumors have it that Yahoo might try to find other white knight instead such as News Corp and InterActiveCorp. Others thought it would be a good idea for China’s search leader Baidu.com Inc. to join in the bid for Yahoo as well. Another possibility could be a takeover bid by Yahoo’s own 40% Alibaba.com. The extreme proposition was to invite Apple Inc.’s chief executive officer Steve Jobs to save Yahoo’s butt.

Given the choice Yahoo’s founders and possibility the company’s staffs would prefer to carry Steve Jobs’ balls rather than eaten alive by Microsoft Corp. But other shareholders might think otherwise as long as they’re making good returns from the disposal. Furthermore the 62 percent premium offer would be too much to reject considering the poor performance of Yahoo’s latest earnings report. Most analysts think Yahoo’s fate is sealed and it’s futile to resists. Why not force and ask for even higher premium from the cash-rich Microsoft Corp.? Personally I sure hope the branding of Yahoo could survive but …

Other Articles That May Interest You …

• Reasons Yahoo should accept Microsoft’s $44.6B offer

Friday, February 01, 2008

Reasons Yahoo should accept Microsoft’s $44.6B offer

Let’s continue with internet search engine story and the consequences from their own screwed-up. One day after Yahoo screwed, Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT, stock) leaped in joy and pounced on the little pig which lost its way when the latter announced today an offer Yahoo shareholders may find hard to refuse. Microsoft Corp offered to buy search engine operator Yahoo Inc. (Nasdaq: YHOO, stock) Friday at a whopping $44.6 billion or $31 a share – half cash, half stock.

Based on Thursday’s closing price of Yahoo stock, the offer represents a 62 percent premium. This is probably the boldest move by Microsoft in declaring war against its number one enemy – Google Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOG, stock). Microsoft has been having sleepless nights since the naughty Google sneaked into its backyard and letting off firecrackers. The time couldn’t be better now for Microsoft to launch the takeover since Yahoo is basically crawling. Yahoo’s so-called Project Panama intended to fights Google’s Adsense heads-on is as good as dead.

Microsoft has started the game and the ball is now at Yahoo’s courtyard. Should Yahoo accept the offer? There’re obvious reasons why Yahoo shareholders should just save their precious time and accept the $31 a share offer:

• Yahoo might not be dead anytime soon but it’s dying slowly and painfully.
• There’s no way Yahoo could throw a single punch at Google, let alone to unseat it
• Yahoo lacks a great leader who can drive the company to start giving serious threat to Google
• Just like the political scenario in Malaysia, Google (Malaysian ruling government) is simply too strong with its huge cash-pile and the only way to compete is to have one-to-one fight - Microsoft + Yahoo against Google. In another words opposition parties should work together *grin*.
• Yahoo’s 500 million unique users and over 4 billion daily page views should be put to better use by competing “efficiently”. Yahoo has been wasting too much time and resources without any clear result. It’s time to let Microsoft (hopefully) to chips in their plan / tactic.

As usual the main concern is the different working cultures between both Microsoft and Yahoo, not to mention the possibility of more heads need to be rolled. However with 50% of the offer in cash term, Microsoft is set to dig its pocket for $22 billion – would that drains up its coffer? It appears Microsoft is dead serious about this war against Google since lots of head, resources and money are at stake, so much so that the initial news about the merger back in May 2007 was not a hoax after all.Bad news for Google – short the stock.

Other Articles That May Interest You …

• Yahoo screwed again, Google Stock to celebrate
• Microsoft-Yahoo $50 Billion Deal Is A Hoax

A penny less sent the Google Stock plunging

It appears after Yahoo Inc. (Nasdaq: YHOO, stock) screwed with its earning announcement, Google followed although with a smaller magnitude. While Yahoo reported a 23 percent drop in its fourth-quarter profit, Google Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOG, stock) registered a higher profit of $1.41 billion – 14% jump compared to last year.

Google also announced earnings for the period were $4.43 a share, a penny shortof Thomson Financial’s estimate which was seeking $4.44 a share – enough for investors to punish the stock by 6.5 percent during after-hours trading after traded up almost 3 percent at the closing bell of normal trading hour. This was the second time in a year the company missed earnings and the first time its quarterly profit has climbed by less than 25 percent.

Net revenue came in at $3.39 billion compared to Thomson Financial estimate of $3.45 billion. On the other hand, revenue from international operations grew to $2.32 billion, or 48% of total revenue, compared to 44% in the period a year earlier. Revenue from the AdSense program rose to $1.6 billion in the quarter, compared to $1.2 billion in the period a year earlier. But co-founder Sergey Brin said Google'sAdSense program saw some difficulty in the quarter, due to challenges in getting users to click on related ads.

Since the economy meltdown, investors are concerned that it could potentially hit the internet giant with potential cutbacks in spending on online advertising. However during the earnings announcement Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidtdenied the company was affected by the recession’s impact. Google admitted it hired 889 new employees in the fourth quarter – which could contribute to the overall bottom-line.

One real concern is the Google’s intention to move into mobile communication. Google is currently participating in a Federal Communications Commission auction of wireless spectrum, which can be used to provide access to the mobile Internet. It is believed the bid could cut a whopping $4.7 billion from Google’s pocket.Could the sell-off, which definitely will happens when market open Friday, follows through? It would be nice to scalp some pocket money to cover the losses from Call Options.

Other Articles That May Interest You …

• Yahoo screwed again, Google Stock to celebrate

Thursday, January 31, 2008

From desert to Tourism and Property Magnet

United Arab Emirates is probably one of the most successful Arab countries in the Middle East in attracting tourism and foreign investment in property markets. With population of only 4.5 million (2006) but GDP of well over US$160 billion mainly due to oil and natural gas, you might think the government was complacent with its huge fortune. But the far-sighted Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum has transformed Dubai as the city that every luxury property wannabes want to have their hands on.

With personal wealth of over $14 billion, he might not be as rich as Suharto *evil grin* (reportedly to amassed $35 billion) but he definitely is a visionary with his infamous palm islands project namely “The Palm Jumeirah” (and later Palm Jebel Ali and Palm Deira). The main purpose of this world-class project was to attract Dubai’s tourism besides locking foreign money in terms of property investment. When finished Palm Jumeirah is expected to be able accommodate about 120,000 residents. And to wonder why David Beckham was willing to pay millions for a piece of property in Palm Jumeirah as his second homeinstead of Malaysia’s “My Second Home Program”?

Isn’t it weird that despite great food and fruits, low cost of living (is it still?), pleasant weather (maybe Beckham was crazy for choosing Dubai), good transportation system (again Beckham probably preferred walking on desert), numerous shopping outlets and others, Malaysia’s second home program remains a failure? Anyway enjoy the development and transformation of the Palm Jumeirah below. Don’t you wish to own a piece of them?

New way for monetization with audio ads

Google’s main revenue was and will remains in the hand of online advertising. Its’ flagship is the infamous Adsense of which anyone could apply and upon approval he / she needs to apply some codes into his / her website(s) or blog(s) – thereafter earns money from visitors who click on the advertisement. Simple yet profitable business model provided you’ve tons of traffic and no invalid clicks registered.

The latest buzz in the blogosphere is the concept of audio advertising by Net Audio Ads with its Pay-Per-Play advertising channel. The company claimed it is backed by one of the Big-5 search engines. Pay-Per-Play works like Google Adsense but the difference is it pays you even without clicks. It further claimed that publishers (that’s you) will earn revenue on 100% of your traffic instead of clicks. The trade-off is your visitors will be served with a 5-second audio advertisement, the same way you were bombarded with those advertisements on the radio while you’re listening to your favorite channel(s). 

While this is a good way to monetize your website, it could be sending your visitors away since the audio could be annoying to some of you. However Pay-Per-Play claimed otherwise since it is just a 5 seconds audio ads play as soon as a visitor arrives; you’ll earn even though the visitors have in fact switch off the volume of their workstation. Besides, you could earn money from their affiliate programswhich work on multiple tiers.

NetAudioAds further claimed that this Pay-Per-Play has been running for more than two years and has over 66,000 advertisers and over 550,000 publishers serving the audio ads. Time will tell if such type of business model will works over long term.

Another 50 basis points cut but Dow still in red

As expected the Federal Reserve dropped its key rate by another 50 basis point to 3 percent in a 9-1 decision. It was the second Fed rate cut in just over a week, and the policymakers signaled they were prepared to keep going lower if needed. Last Tuesday Bernanke cut the rate by a rare three-quarter or 75 basis point. Wall Street rallied when the Dow jumped over 200 points after the announcement but serious profit-taking saw the Dow ended lower by over 37 points.

Some investors said expectations of more downgrades of bond issuers and uneasiness ahead of Thursday's Commerce Department report on personal income and spending inflation prompted the profit taking. Other investors said key reports on the job market and manufacturing set to arrive Friday also added into the uncertainties. Just after the market closed Wednesday, Standard & Poor's downgraded about $50 billion worth of mortgage-backed securities and placed another $217 billion worth on negative watch.

The U.S. economy nearly stalled in the fourth quarter with a growth rate of just 0.6 percent, capping its worst year since 2002. For all of 2007, the economy grew by just 2.2 percent, the weakest performance in five years. In the fourth quarter, consumer spending slowed to a pace of 2 percent, down from a 2.8 percent growth rate in the prior quarter. Sales of U.S. goods and services abroad also slowed sharply in the fourth quarter with exports grew at a 3.9 percent pace, compared with a whopping 19.1 percent growth rate in the third quarter.

Other Articles That May Interest You …

• Another rate cut is required but how much is enough?
• Stocks recover but too early to heave a sight of relief?

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Yahoo screwed again, Google Stock to celebrate

Yahoo did it again. Not only did the pathetic Yahoo Inc. (Nasdaq: YHOO,stock) screwed up with its latest earning announcement but it somehow re-use the old, basic and dirty way hoping to soothe the investors when announced as many as 1,000 employees would be sent to the chopping board. Regular readers of StockTube know I never invest or trade Yahoo’s stock, for obvious reason. During bullish period, probably investors would give the stock a little lift but in the current gloomy market, such action simply didn’t work – the stock was punished by 10 percent lower.

Yahoo reported a 23 percent drop in its fourth-quarter profit. The search engine company which is still eating the dust left by Google Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOG,stock) in terms of leadership earned $205.7 million (15 cents per share) during 2007's final three months, down from net income of $268.7 million (19 cents per share) at the same time in 2006. For the full year, Yahoo's profit decreased 12 percent to $660 million. Fourth-quarter revenue totaled $1.83 billion and after subtracting commissions paid to advertising partners, Yahoo's revenue was $1.4 billion - in line with analyst estimates.

Immediately after the poor result, the old story of Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT,stock) buying Yahoo re-emerged. This time the frustrated investors do not think Yahoo would have any bargaining chip but rather would be begging for buyers. I still do not understand why Yahoo couldn’t emulate Google’s success, not that the investors didn’t give Yahoo time to catch-up despite its promise for a turnaround. Yahoo is moving by a very, very slow pace and I believe investors are losing patience.

Nevertheless Yahoo Inc.’s pathetic performance will only makes Google Inc. looks great. During normal circumstances I would rush in for Google’s stock as Yahoo’s loss is Google’s gain but looking at current economy status, I would be extremely cautious with Google’s Call Options (maybe I’ll limit my positions with good time-value).

Other Articles That May Interest You …

• My biggest Profit in Option Trading – 486 Percent
• Google and Apple stocks, my money making machine
• Little Secret in Making Money trading GOOGLE
• Yahoo’s Weakness is Google’s Gain

Mirror mirror on the wall who’s the biggest liar of all?

Politics are dirty so they said, but to become the ultimate survivor it’s all about how excellent you are in lying. Hey! What happens to the Mongolian model case, Altantuya Shaaribuu, whose remains were destroyed with C4 explosives? Sorry mighty Genghis Khan, your people’s case is as good as forgotten. The good news for local media publication business is the fact that this nation called Malaysia will never runs out of hot and spicy stories or scandals. It could easily put all those entertainment magazines out of business, seriously.

And if a prominent lawyer such as V.K. Lingam could lies without blinking his eyes even once, what do you think of other politicians, except for the idiot former Health Minister Chua Soi Lek of course, could have possibly done? The degree Lingam lies could easily put the President of America, George Bush, to shame. No doubt some “invincible hands” are pulling the strings in this Judiciary Fixing Scandal’s video clip. Rumors have it that the current government is out to seal former premier Mahathir’s mouth, at least till the coming election is over. Of course the old fox denied almost everything about the scandal, leveraging on his old age. Former Chief Justice Eusoff Chin, Tourism Minister Tengku Adnan, businessman Vincent Tan and almost everyone mentioned in the video clip would deny any involvement either directly or indirectly in the judge fixing scandal.

The fact that the Royal Commission of Inquiry was told that the main actor, Lingam, was actually bullshitting and bragging shows how much the lawyer (Lingam) took the scandal lightly, not to mention smartly, knowing how to play the game of merry-go-round with the commission. When Lingam said the person in the video looks like him, sounds like him but can’t say for 100% that’s him, he was making a fool out of the Royal Commission especially the commission chairman Haidar Mohd Noor.

Right, so robbers robbing goldsmith or banks but get caught pants down can now claim they’re bullshitting as they’re only using their toy-guns to brag to their friends how brave they are, not to mention criminals caught on CCTV could create uncertainties to their case by this so-called “looks like me, sounds like me but can’t say 100% it’s me”. Criminals walk away free and everyone happy, no?

It’s not a fair fight when you place the trust on a Royal Commission of which the members posses third class intelligence compared to the first class lawyer like Lingam but then probably that’s the main objective. Maybe Karpal Singh should be made the chairman of the commission. Then only you can start the real grilling process. But the intention here is not to put Lingam or anyone mentioned in the video clip behind bars – just a little diversion for people who are critical on the current administration, well, a little busy. However it appears the old Mahathir has started his latest salvo that Badawi has overstayed (MalaysiaKini) – current sleepy PM is not supposed to serve more than one term.

Now it appears Lingam is drawing a bigger circle of this little fun game. He claimed Robert Lazar, one of the lawyers representing the Malaysian Bar, had asked him to broker his appointment directly to the Court of Appeal. Boy! This Lingam should be a stock-broker since he’s really good in “brokering business”. Who else could this crazy lawyer brings together with his downfall? Maybe Lingam could drop another bombshell that the current Prime Minister Badawi owed him big for brokered his appointment with former premier Mahathir. Yeah, that would add more entertainment and prolong the inquiry after which the impotent Royal Commission could declare business as usual.

So if you think this Lingam is in deep shit, you are terribly and horribly wrong. He’s in fact enjoying every moment of it. He’s an instant celebrity. Don’t believe me? Ask any lawyer or people interested in this scandal their favorite T-Shirt – obviously it’s the special made “Lingam was speaking to me!” t-shirt. Furthermore Lingam is too much into Malaysian politics that if he opens the can of worms, not even the current government could repair the damages. Seriously, he’s as good as a free man with celebrity status.

What can you learn from such scandal? Stockpile and display some whisky or wine bottles at your home, just in case.

Other Articles That May Interest You …

• Why you should become a politician in Malaysia
• Chua Soi Lek’s Sex DVDs, Cuckoo ends his Career
• Malaysia Judiciary Scandal? Don’t bet on it
• Malaysia’s Biggest Scandal – Business as Usual

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

World’s largest stem cell plant – hoax or reality?

According to Malaysian government, the world’s biggest stem cell facility to be built in Pahang state could potentially generate RM1 billion in turnover by end of 2011. The 200 acres land in Janda Baik has been identified as the location for the facility to produce stem cells from rabbit to treat various diseases. Pahang chief minister claimed that the bulk of the revenue would come from stem cell transplant services while the rest would be from the sale of fertilizer and rabbit meat.

Under the memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Pahang Technology Resources Sdn Bhd (PTR) and BCRO Stem Cell Xenotransplantation Sdn Bhd (BCRO Malaysia), Malaysian aims to be the hub for rabbit colony for stem cell culture and production for medical purposes. Interestingly BCRO (Bio-Cellullar Research Organization) has been established only to be closed down before re-established again, first in U.K. then Ireland and finally U.S.

BCRO Malaysia is 80% Malaysian-owned with the remaining owned by foreigners. Under this MoU PTR will provide land while BCRO provide funds and technical expertise. Something is not right though – the foreigners are expected to inject RM280 million to the initial plant development with more money needed as the plant approached full operation and commercialization in 2011, when the foreigners only owned 20% stake in the first place? What a great deal! Hopefully this will not be another white-elephant plant in the making again.

Anyway since some of the local stem cells players namely StemLife Berhad (KLSE: STEMLFE, stock-code 0137), TMC Life Sciences Bhd (KLSE: TMCLIFE,stock-code 0101), CyroCord and CellSafe International (CSI) have BioNexus status to conduct their own R&D, would such news enhance the pace of the biotechnology to leap-frog Malaysia in this sector? Would Vincent Tan emerge with some surprises again since he had quietly acquired substantial stake in StemLife and TMC Life?

Other Articles That May Interest You …

• TMC Life and StemLife’s Merger on the Horizon?

Monday, January 28, 2008

Another rate cut is required but how much is enough?

It’s almost definite that the U.S. Federal Reserve will cut the interest rate again when they meet Tuesday and Wednesday – that’s tomorrow. Ben Bernanke and his boys could have pressed the panic button a week ago by cutting the rate by 75 basis points but it could be a strategy to gauge the reaction of investors as well. Whatever the intention was, the writing is on the wall – either the investors believe the cut was not enough or they saw it as a confirmation that recession was real.

I’ve mentioned that the Dow Jones’ performance on the day the 0.75% cut was announced speaks volume. Based on Wall Street reaction, the markets are still bearish and in such time there’s only one thing the Feds can do – cut the rate again. The expectation is already there and it would be suicide if Feds were to decide otherwise. But would another round of interest rate cut bring back all the happy investors? Already some said the major sell-off has not even begin while some think even with another rate cut tomorrow, it won’t help. Maybe the Feds could try another 50 basis points.
Asian stock markets already in a very bearish mood as can be seen today. Even the mighty China's benchmark index (Shanghai Composite Index) plummeted 7.2 percent to its lowest point in six months. Shanghai stocks collapsed (finally?) with losers outnumbered gainers a whopping 700 to 49 while the little brother Shenzhen Composite Index plunged 6.85 percent. Who said China is invulnerable when U.S. sneezes? Get real, China is floating because the U.S. is absorbing majority of its export. U.S. is still the biggest consumer and that’s a fact.

However if your local stock exchange allows short-selling (stocks or options) such a panic scenario would definitely benefits your pocket otherwise you have no other choice but to wait for a clearer direction before you long the stocks. Of course nobody knows when the bottom is but if you’re adventurous enough, you could try to catch the falling knife.

Other Articles That May Interest You …

• Stocks recover but too early to heave a sight of relief?

Sunday, January 27, 2008

Former Dictator Suharto Dies leaving huge Wealth

You know he couldn’t make it when the leader(s) or former leader(s) from neighbouring countries took turn to give him probably the last visit. First it was Singapore's founding father and first prime minister, Lee Kuan Yew, 84; then Mahathir Mohamad, the 82-year-old former prime minister of Malaysia and former richest man on earth Sultan of Brunei, Hassanal Bolkiah, 61 from Brunei. On Sunday, 27th Jan 2008, the former dictator Suharto who ruled Indonesia with iron-fist for 32-years has died from multiple organ failure at the age of 86.

Suharto was regarded as one of the 20th century's most brutal and corrupt politicians has lived comfortably in downtown Jakarta for the past decade since being toppled by a pro-democracy uprising during the 1997-1998 Asian financial crisis. Just how cruel he was? Reports had it that up to 800,000 alleged communist sympathizers were killed during his rise to power from 1965 to 1968. Suharto was said to be responsible for sending troops to kill another 300,000 in military operations against independence movements in Papua, Aceh and East Timor.

No doubt neighbouring former leaders such as Mahathir and Lee Kuan Yew appreciated Suharto’s effort in ending Sukarno’s “Confrontation” against Malaysia but on equal notes critics say Suharto squandered Indonesia's vast natural resources of oil, timber and gold - siphoning the nation's wealth at an estimated“US$35 billion” to benefit his cronies and family like a mafia Godfather (remember Al Capone?). Due to the excuse that his health was deteriorating (what else do you expect?) Suharto was never charge to the fullest but instead was let off the hook to live a comfortable life till he dies on Sunday.

With the court system paralyzed by corruption, his former elite politicians help by consistently called for charges against Suharto to be dropped on humanitarian grounds. Does this means it’s all right to be corruptas long as you let off the throne at old age (at which you would probably have health problems) so that you can live on your ill-earned fortunes – all in the name of humanitarian grounds? At least I bet Malaysia former premier Mahathir would thinks so. Who says it’s a no-no for a nation to have iron-fisted, brutal, cold-blooded and corrupted dictator leader?

To the youngsters, his brutalities could be traced as early as May 1998 riots – thousands of women, aged between 10 - 50 years old and mostly of ethnic-Chinese were systematically gang raped in front of their families. Some of these victims were later died or committed suicide. Indonesians are pretending to be soldiers"putting red, green and blue crosses on houses" - red to encourage burning the house, green to encourage rape against the females, and blue to encourage stealing. People are offering as low as US$ 6 to rape a Chinese Indonesian.

The government and military are accused of participating in a cover-up by suggesting that it was the urban poor who incited the violence against their neighbors when in fact it was retaliation by Suharto for being forced to resign. Former defense minister and armed forces commander General Wiranto, as well as several police chiefs were claimed to be in cohort with Suharto for the riots. There’s a similarity between the riots and Malaysia though – ethnic Chinese were made scapegoats in times of conflict or hardship.

Indonesian economy plunged after the riots mainly because most of the ethnic Chinese businesses and wealth were relocated elsewhere, particularly Singapore. Thereafter the Indonesian government realized the dependency on stability and investment for its survival. Changes were made and now ethnic Chinese are allowed to use their Chinese name, so much so that even lion dances are annual events during the Chinese Lunar New Year in Indonesia. Suharto might have stopped Sukarno from his ambitious plan to reunite Indonesia and Malaysia but the former launched thecoup for his own personal interest nevertheless. Furthermore there’re simply too many lives, not to mention nation’s wealth being wiped out for the selfishness of dictatorship in this context.

The interesting question is who will inherit Suharto’s huge fortune (if indeed there’s $35 billion hidden somewhere) unofficially? Most probably his flamboyant youngest playboy son Tommy Suharto and his eldest daughter Siti Hardijanti ''Tutu'' Rukmana would share Suharto’s 32-year of wealth accumulation.

Forex traders smile their way to the banks

With the action by Federal Reserve to cut interest rate again but this time by a mind-boggling and panic 75 basis points, perhaps the investors who made great money out of it were currency traders. Since Ben Bernanke begun the rate cut program in 2007, it was a smooth ride for currency traders to just short US dollar, sit and watch their trades make money. Just like in stocks market whereby you can leave your money to the professional to manage it should you feel that you don’t have the time or expertise to do it yourself, you could get the professionals to managed forex account as well.

There’re many forex players in the market who would gladly manage your account. For example Pro Financial offers up to three trading strategies namely Premier, On Target and EurAsia. The Premier was a trading system specifically for long term approach with the objective to create diversification. On Target trading system on the other hand was actually a swing strategy to capture market swings on major currencies such as GBPUSD, EURUSD, GBPJPY, and EURJPY.

Meanwhile the EurAsia strategy is a day-trading method focusing on the moves of the Asian and European currencies during their trading session. All three trading strategies require minimum deposit of $10,000 with trading fee ranges from $6 to $25 per $100,000. Besides free forex training, Pro Financial also offers live support for its members. However please note that any type of investing, be it stocks, forex, options, gold etc, carries certain level of risks.

Friday, January 25, 2008

Stocks recover but too early to heave a sight of relief?

Weird as it is but that’s the fact. Ben Bernanke and his panicked team cut the interest rate by a whopping 0.75 percent yet the U.S. stock markets couldn’t lift it’s barometer into the positive territory after plunged more than 400 points early of the day. What does that tells you?Squarely the investors were not that convinced or optimistic that the gloomy days are over. Try to cut such a quantum rate on normal day and you can expect Dow Jones to skyrocket more than 500 points.

Not even the $150 billion initial plan by George Bush administration could pull the stubborn bear out of the drain. And now after some internal fights House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Republican leader John Boehner and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson appears to agree to pump about $150 billion into the economy this year –hoping the word recession would not becomes reality.

Stock markets reacted positively, at least temporarily. Back to the drawing board, it was hope that the plan in providing rebate checks to 117 million families and $50 billion in incentives for businesses to invest in new plants and equipment will work. Under the plan agreed, U.S. individual taxpayers would get up to $600 in rebates, working couples $1,200 and those with children an additional $300 per child. The rebates would phase out gradually for individuals whose adjusted gross income exceeds $75,000 and for couples with incomes above $150,000.

What’s the actual objective of such plan? None other than to get consumers to spend but is it that simple? The business owners will be able to write off 50 percent of the purchase price of plants and other capital equipment immediately. However, the problem with the housing crisis is not yet over. It won’t be a nice picture if people are still pessimistic about the housing sector. Like it or not we’re still in the bear market and everyone hates bear markets. Robert Arnott, chairman of Research Affiliates, said he doesn’t think the real selling has even begun and that the market only now realizes how seriously overexposed it was to loans and securities that should never have been made.

The main thing that you should worry is the fact that the smart-money has not trigger the sell-off in a grand big wave yet. It’s simply too early to say the sky is finally clear now.

Other Articles That May Interest You …

• Surprise rate cut of 0.75 percent – glad it’s so Bloody

Thursday, January 24, 2008

Do you think Google will invest in Malaysia?

The last time I mentioned about Google Inc. and Malaysia was back in May 2007 when StockTube wrote how Malaysia can prosper by copying Singapore. Before you start clicking the “comment” link at the end of this article and start cursing how naughty I was by glorifying Singapore at the expense of Malaysia, a country that used to be so proud of her MSC’s (Multimedia Super Corridor) initiative, please be rational as there’s nothing wrong by copying. Japan which used to tear apart, learn and copy every part of American’s automobile is today one of the biggest quality car manufacturer, giving U.S. car giant General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM, stock) a run for their money right at their very own backyard.

When I re-read that article, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong was visiting internet giant Yahoo Inc. (Nasdaq: YHOO, stock) personally to look at the company's new technology and the economic opportunities’ prospect. At this moment two of the largest internet giants, Yahoo Inc. and Google Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOG, stock), have their offices in Singapore. Ever wonder why Singapore is always a step ahead of Malaysia in attracting these types of giants onto their soil?

Yeah, if you’re still proud of MSC chances are you’ve been hypnotized by Prime Minister Badawi’s “Coridor Syndrome”. Of course I know MSC was started by former premier Mahathir silly. The project started with a great bang but lack the follow-up to make it the world-class project that could be envy to Singapore or India. A great idea which was supposed to leapfrog the nation into the information and knowledge age is now a boring landscape only good for outsourcing and support centers (EDS, DHL, Shell, HSBC etc) due to mainly cheap labours (even Indian expatriates chose to go back to their homeland now). When was the last time you heard some innovative products or exciting technology breakthrough created by researchers in Cyberjaya, the heart of MSC?

Therefore I read and take it with a pinch of salt when Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Jamaludin Jarjis said Google Inc. has shown interest to invest in Malaysia. I know if I keep on criticizing this type of news you might brand me as anti-development but get real. What possibly could Malaysia offers that Google couldn’t possibly refuse? Google has more than US$12 billion in cash and it does not need cheap land in Cyberjaya to setup its world-class office.

And definitely it does not wish to spoil its reputation with the small bandwidth and unreliable internet access provided by local providers. Google is so rich it’s buildingits own freaking global fiber backbone network via 10GbE switch across oceans, mind you. You think Google will just shutdown Singapore’s office and relocate to Malaysia? What could Malaysia offers - top-brain in the information technology field? Don’t get me wrong as I believe there’re still hidden talents locally but theoretically the very top brains have long migrated thanks to thegovernment’s very successful brain-drain programs.

Malaysia’s small population also does not justify for Google to setup a local office just to serve the market of its success model of Adsense advertising. So really, Ican’t think of any compelling reason why Google wants to invest in Malaysia. If only the Ministers were proactive, not to mention smart, enough to market Malaysia before Singapore could snatch the customers (Google and Yahoo). But then Jamaludin Jarjis is a person with great vision and he was the person who thought it was “a freaking good idea” to buy the whole Russian Soyuz TMA-11 Space Rocket just for the glory after the first Malaysian was sent to space as part of a billion-dollar deal for Malaysia to buy 18 Russian-made Sukhoi 30-MKM jet fighters.

So, what do you think? Could you suggest reason(s) why Google would set their foot in Malaysia? If Google could be convinced to invest in Malaysia, I’m sure everyone would be jumping in joy – as a Google’s employee? Wanna know how’s life as a Google’s employee? Watch this video. Whoa!!!

Other Articles That May Interest You …

• Malaysian Astronaut Project Poll Result
• Malaysian first Astronaut? Not sure, but will he urinate
• Malaysia Can Prosper By Copying Singapore
• Looking For a New Job? Take a Look at GOOGLE

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

How to withdraw money from PayPal to local account?

Many bloggers whose forte is in making money online had told you how to withdraw your money from PayPal to your local banking account. So if you already knew how to withdraw your money from PayPal then you can skip this article. There’re simply too many programs in the internet that enable you to make pocket money. One of the most successful programs would be this one that would pay you a cool US$20 for your first writeup. You just need to sign-up, submit your blog for approval, complete a task and get paid viaPayPal. Hence if you do not have an account with PayPal you can sign-up here.

Why PayPal and the hiccups along the journey

Why would you want to use PayPal when you can use your proud Credit Card? Simple – you do not wish to expose your credit card number. Furthermore PayPal is free to sign-up and in terms of security it uses SSL and other latest technology and proprietary procedures to protect the security of members’ transactions. PayPal manages over 150 million accounts as of end of 2006, performs payment processing for online vendors, auction sites and other corporate users. PayPal was so successful that it was acquired by eBay Inc. (Nasdaq:EBAY, stock) in 2002.

Thanks to some bat hats Malaysia was one of countries blacklisted by PayPal because of “internet crimes”. News had it that due to some eBay sellers who actually sold stuffs but never bother to deliver the goods put the country on PayPal’s radar. But there’re equal disputes that claimed some U.S. buyers actually withdrew the funds by executing unauthorized money problem just before the items delivered. Unfortunately non-U.S. residents are not eligible for PayPal seller protection policy and this had created hoo-haa around the e-commerce circle. Some said it was just a glitch before the infrastructure and processes were put in place before Malaysian could withdraw from PayPal.

Debit Card to the Rescue

As far as 2007 Malaysian PayPal users need to spin their heads via multiple hops if they wish to see their money transferred from PayPal account to their local bank. Malaysia was one of the countries allowed to send and receive money and withdraw money to “U.S. banks” – quite a silly idea as it’s near to impossible for Malaysian who do not resides in U.S. to have a U.S. bank account. The ever-creative Malaysian came up with the solutions of Virtual Money card, borrowed “friend’s address” in U.S., and rerouted their money to countries recognized by PayPal. Some just used their money to purchase stuffs over eBay and so on.

Now, you can withdraw your money from PayPal to your local bank account (click here to view countries allowed; sign-uphere if you can’t access) via Debit Card with VISA logo embossed. Although the PayPal website mentioned you can withdraw to either Credit or Debit Cards somehow you can only do so to Debit Card, not all debit cards will work, mind you. Some claimed you won’t have much success with AmBank NexG Prepaid MasterCard (debit card) although you can certainly use it for verification. So don’t try your sweat on the crap-card. One that works well is Public Bank Visa Electron Debit Card (more info in pdf format here) although some bloggers found that Tune Money prepaid Debit Card works seamlessly.

The fund withdraw processes

Step 1

• Click “My Account” tab
• Click “Withdraw” sub-tab
• Click “Withdraw funds to your card” link as below
• Note: you’ll notice that PayPal will deduct USD $5 from your fund as processing fee

Step-2

If this is the “first time” you withdraw money from PayPal, you’ll see the screen-shot below of which you need to enter the relevant particulars. Now the complaint would be the duration your Public Bank takes to process your application. It could take up to 4-weeks before they send you the debit card after which you need to wait for another 2 weeks for the PIN-number to reach your mail-box.

Step-3

The next step is to specify the amount you wish to transfer from your PayPal to your debit card account, US$500 being the maximum per-day before the US$5.00 processing fee. Therefore the net amount is actually US495.00 ($500 minus $5). Hence do not scream and run berserk when you found out the actual fund transferred was $495 instead of $500.
Step-4

Click “Continue” and you’ll end up with the screen below. If you decided to proceed, click “Confirm” else click the other two buttons to edit or cancel the transaction. Typically it will take 5-7 days for the transfer but in Public Bank Visa Electron Debit Card it took only 2-days for my transaction to be effected.

The next screen below shows the remaining daily withdrawal limit.

Step-5

If you wish to view the details of your transaction, click the “View the detail of this request”. It’s a good idea to save the screen below in case of any dispute with PayPal. 


When’s the best time to withdraw?

Unless you’re a U.S. citizen whereby the currency exchange is not a factor, you should check out you local currency exchange. Also watch out for economic news and its effect on the value of your US dollar. For example with Tuesday surprise move by U.S. Federal Reserve move to cut 0.75 percent interest rate, the U.S. dollar is expected to plunge further. Therefore it’s advisable to transfer your fund soonest possible if you foresee Malaysia Ringgit will strengthen further. As for me I just managed to get RM3.238 to one US dollar.

Other Articles That May Interest You …

• Surprise rate cut of 0.75 percent – glad it’s so Bloody

Research before jumping into web hosting offers

Choosing the right web hosting company to host your website or blog is one of the most important decisions yet it could be tiring since you wouldn’t know which could serve you better. All these hosting companies will bombard you with marketing or sales talks. You might also want to know the terminologies associate with web hosting. There’re tons of tricks used by such companies to make it as if it’s heaven to host your website(s) with them.

You can learn all these tricks from web hosting choice, which brought you this article - it has good resources of articles for you to read before you engaged a web hosting service. For example according to one of the resources, it’s not possible for a company to offer unlimited bandwidth or space.

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Surprise rate cut of 0.75 percent – glad it’s so Bloody

Can you remember when was the last time the U.S. Federal Reserve acted so aggressively? I can’t but I cannot imagine how the stock markets are going to react to this when the bell rings later. The U.S. stock futures fluctuate violently without a clear direction but pointed to a lower opening even after the Feds in a surprising move slashed the interest rate by a whopping 0.75 percentage point - a week before the central bank's scheduled meeting.

This latest action only goes to show the seriousness of the recession threat the super-power is facing. Japan's Nikkei stock average closed down 5.65 percent while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index lost 8.65 percent a day (biggest lost since Sept 11, 2001’s terrorist attacks). The surprise reduction in rate from 4.25 down to 3.5 percent marked the biggest one-day rate move by the central bank since it cuts its discount rate by a full percentage point in December 1991.

Not sure if you should celebrate that the oil prices plunge to below $88 a barrel due to worries U.S. economy may be heading toward a recession, hence dampen demand for the black gold. Most of the technology stocks are in the red, including Apple Inc.’s (Nasdaq: AAPL, stock), Google Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOG, stock) and Baidu.com, Inc. (Nasdaq: BIDU, stock). Guess what, Apple Inc., Google Inc. and Baidu.com all are trading at minus $10.00, $30.00 and $27 before the opening bell at this moment. So if you’re shorting or have Put Options positions on these stocks – Congratulations!!!

Others trading in the red includes Priceline.com Incorporated (Nasdaq: PCLN,stock) and NVIDIA Corporation (Nasdaq: NVDA, stock). Not to be cruel but I’m hoping the stocks downtrend will continue. It seems the potential of Baidu.com heading to its pit-stop and the ultimate resting place is getting higher. Not sure what I’m talking about? Read the previous articles below.

Other Articles That May Interest You …

• Take profit on Friday Expiration, Baidu is Sinking
• Great time to make money on Baidu Stock

Why you should become a politician in Malaysia

Do you know why so many doctors (medical practitioners) finally found out that after spending years studied medicine nothing beats being a politician - provided you’re part of the Barisan Nasional, the ruling government since independence? First of all you get to make tons of “money” without having to work your heads off. Secondly as long as you carry balls you’re above the law, not any judiciary officer dare to lay their hands on you. Thirdly you get to go on all-expenses-paid overseas holiday in the name of “education trips (lawatan sambil belajar)”, never mind the sole purpose is to learn how clean the toilets were in Mauritius, South Africa and Japan. And I can go on and on with thousands of benfits of becoming a pro-government politician in Malaysia.

But the best part of all the benefits is the ability to enjoy immunity from almost any wrongdoings. Based on the 101 SOP (standard operating procedure), if you’re caught with your pants down (I still couldn’t figure out why the former Health Minister, Chua Soi Lek, didn’t read the manual), your next course of action is to deny it as much as possible, pretend you can’t remember a single thing or even to claim the other party is mad or drunk. In the Judiciary Fixing Scandal, former Prime Minister Mahathir and former Chief Justice Eusoff Chin have done great by competing in selective amnesia (Malaysiakini). Tourism Minister Tengku Adnan followed the guidebook by claiming the lawyer currently in hot soup as “Mad and Drunk” since Adnan can’t possibly use the “memory loss” tactic due to his age. And so all the above politicians and former chief justice will be let off the hook, not that the Royal Commission can do anything about it in the first place.

And now you have the main actor in the Judiciary Fixing Scandal video clip, V.K. Lingam, admitted he “talk rubbish when he drinks”. Lingam’s brother and former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar’s applications to stand as witnesses were denied. You’re indeed mad and drunk if you think anyone could be implicated in this highest judiciary scandal. But all these are expected as Malaysian has short memory as can be seen with former premier Mahathir. Furthermore how hard could it be to win the hearts of the voters regardless of tons of scandals queuing up at the corridors of power? Throw in an extra holiday such as the case for Indian’s Thaipusam and the votes are flocking into your ballot boxes.

If that’s no enough the EPF (Employees Provident Fund) just declared a 5.8 percent dividend for 2007 compared to 5.1 percent in 2006, not that I’m complaining. In no time you can expect things back to normal and the whole process repeat again. Ever wonder why the ruling government is the undisputed champion of all the politics in the world? It’s because the people enjoy watching them on the throne.

Other Articles That May Interest You …

• Chua Soi Lek’s Sex DVDs, Cuckoo ends his Career
• What a day to start the New Year – Sex DVDs anyone?
• Malaysia Judiciary Scandal? Don’t bet on it

Monday, January 21, 2008

TMC Life and StemLife’s Merger on the Horizon?

The main difference between the two Malaysian public listed companies involved in the business of stem-cell banking services is their stock prices, which in turn is closely related to their shareholders. One’s stock price has been bid-up while the other has been neglected. Basically there’re two other players in this sector namely CyroCord and CellSafe International (CSI) but let’s concentrate on both StemLife Berhad (KLSE: STEMLFE, stock-code 0137) andTMC Life Sciences Bhd (KLSE: TMCLIFE, stock-code 0101) as the latest changes in shareholding makes the story interesting.

Short note on TMC Life and StemLife’s business

While both TMC Life and StemLife provide stem-cell storage service, both companies actually started from different angle of healthcare business.StemLife specializes in the provision of stem cell banking and stem cell therapies which includes collection, testing, processing and cryo-preservation of umbilical cord blood stem cell (UCBSC). That’s their bread and butter and based annual report ended 31st Dec 2006, StemLife stored over 5,000 units of stem cells taken from umbilical cord blood of newborn babies.

Of course along their business journey, StemLife attracted quite a number of business challenges such as the former Health Minister, Chua Soi Lek, (yes, the same minister who resigned after his sex DVDs scandal) who was quite offensive at the idea of stem-cell storage and at one time claimed Malaysian people are really crazy over cord blood storage. Recently, StemLife also attracted attention when it initiated legal action against a blogger (former employee) who claimed that the company adopted bad business practices such as storing infected cord blood with clean samples. StockTube estimated StemLife could potentially lose RM37 million in revenue due to that article.

TMC Life on the other hand relies on their human expertise (or rather human capital) in fertility services – their key person being Dr Colin Lee Soon Soo and the second man Dr Wong Pak Seng. The business of providing stem-cell storage was not realized until late 2007 through TMC BioTech Sdn Bhd, to take advantage of the demand from its existing customer-base. All the businesses within TMC Life are expected to be centralized at their new building, Tropicana Medical Center (don’t confused that the actual physical medical center is located at the prestigious Tropicana though). The business of storing stem-cell is attractively profitable – StemLife was making 50 percent profit margin, mind you. Hence the establishment of stem-cell service is giving StemLife a run for their money.

Stem-cell business attracted Big Bosses

I’m not going into details of their businesses, fundamental and technical analysis and so on as I believe I’ve done so in my previous articles (attached at the end of this article should you be interested). The main purpose of this article is to predict what could happen with the latest shareholders changes in TMC Life. Everybody knows Vincent Tan, the owner of Berjaya Group, owns substantial stake in StemLife, and the very reason why the StemLife’s stock price skyrocketed. Of course people was speculating when Tan Sri Quek Leng Chan, the owner of Hong Leong Bank Berhad (KLSE: HLBANK, stock-code 5819), acquired substantial stake in TMC Life back then. I mean what the heck is a banker doing in a fertility center?

But now, Berjaya Corporation Berhad’s (KLSE: BJCORP, stock-code 3395) boss, Vincent Tan, bought a 10.26% stake comprising 19 million shares of 10 sen each in the fertility company? That’s something you should take note very seriously. It was reported that BJCORP entered into TMC Life via its subsidiary Juara Sejati Sdn Bhd at an average price of RM1.29 a share. TMC Life’s managing director Dr Colin Lee was the seller of the 9.1 million block-of-shares to Vincent Tan although the Executive Director of TMC Life, Dr Wong Pak Seng, is accumulating.

What’s up with this Vincent Tan?

Just what’s in the mind of Vincent Tan with his 10.26 percent and 13.6 percent stake in TMC Life and StemLife respectively? It would be nice if Vincent Tan could initiate a merger exercise for both entities. Probably the synergy could be better put to use by having two main entities post-merger with Dr Colin Lee heading the unit in providing fertility service while Sharon heading the unit in stem-cell storage. One is a medical practitioner while the other is a marketing person. Furthermore Dr Colin’s expertise is in fertility and to have him running the stem-cell banking business would be tiring, not to mention a waste, (of course he could hire others), the same thing for Sharon who knows nuts about fertility. Additionally, competition in the stem-cell banking is getting stiffer with more players expected to be landing on Malaysian soil.

Another possibility could be that Vincent Tan is not interested in merging both in the first place. But “he knew” some foreign hand(s) is interested in scooping the players to make it the spring-board for regional expansion. Healthcare business especially in stem-cell banking is relatively new in Asia with great potential if you think of China’s market. Heck, Vincent Tan could be thinking of partnering with this new foreign investor(s) who have the expertise to leverage on the BioNexus status to venture into R&D. If you care to look at the billions of dollars in recurring revenue earned by healthcare or biotech companies in US, you would be amazed of the prospect. But again the main problem is Malaysia continuously having this brain-drain problem.

Of course the above is purely speculative but with the TMC Life’s stock price movement begun skyrocketing (resistance at RM1.70), the possibility of a plan could be in the cooking pot – be it a merger or just the Vincent’s traditional stock-frying tactic. Hey! After all speculation is good for the stock market as it creates volatility and interest. Furthermore traders love speculation as it could give them opportunity to enter at lower price should the speculation becomes reality. Both TMC Life and StemLife are fundamental stocks that investors should have in their portfolio. As such the risk is pretty limited, although StemLife has seen its stock price bid up quite substantially.

Other Articles That May Interest You … 

• Chua Soi Lek’s Sex DVDs, Cuckoo ends his Career
• Mission Accomplished – 100% Profit with Vincent Tan?
• Did a Blog cause RM37 million losses to StemLife?
• STEMLIFE Skyrocket without anyone notice
• TMC Life – A Must Have Heathcare Stock in You Portfolio
• Why You Should Invest TMC-Life and StemLife Stocks?

Saturday, January 19, 2008

New Proton Saga express review and photos

The newly launched 1.3-litre Proton Saga to replace the, believe it or not, 23-year-old Saga was finally here. It was reported that the new Proton Saga cost Proton Holdings Bhd (KLSE: PROTON, stock-code 5304) a whopping RM 450 million to develop and took about 17-months to transform from the drawing board to the actual production. Not sure if the figure has been exaggerated but spending almost RM26.5 million per month to come out with this car? Furthermore there’re tons of carryover from the disastrous Savvy.

To recoup the development cost, Proton plans to export it overseas such as to Southeast Asian countries, China, India and the Middle East. Locally, the target was to achieve monthly sales of 5,500 units – a figure which I believe is achievable after I got the feedback from some outlets. People are snapping with low booking fees as low as RM100, refundable. I can’t argue about the hot response since this is the cheapest entry car within Proton Saga family for 1.3-litre category.

The main selling point is definitely the exterior which could immediately put the old 23-year-old predecessor to shame. Still people were being taken for granted with the two decades old car before this latest model. You can’t put this model to compete with Toyota Vios and Honda City as trumpeted by some media because it’s totally different segment. To compete with Perodua Myvi and Viva might be the right comparison but really, do you wish to own Myvi or this Saga?

Basically this new Saga model comes with three sub-model lines – N-Line, B-Line, M-Line. The cheapest would be the N-Line which comes with the most basic components but due to the waiting list, most showrooms will not have this unit available. On the road price is RM31,500.00. Accessories include radio CD, air-cond, anti-rust, central lock, carpet mat and plate holder. You can only have one type of paint – solid and it’s manual, mind you.

B-Line (base) is slightly better which comes with the accessories as N-Line above plus additional car alarm, power window, wheel cap and body colour bumper. This line includes both manual and automatic transmission with choices of solid or metallic paint. The prices range are from RM34,548.00 to RM37,998.00.

M-Line is the top of the range with accessories which is the same as B-Line above plus additional stuffs. The radio CD comes with 4-speaker instead and to safeguard Malaysian cheap life, it comes with a mind-boggling single airbag (driver). You’ll be pampered with alloy rims, reverse sensor & fog lamp, electric door mirror, door trim, vanity mirror, seat height adjuster and trunk room lamp. Just like B-Line you have choices of manual or automatic transmission and solid or metallic paint. Prices ranging from RM37,048.00 to RM39,998.00.

There’re some photos captured shown below. I don’t think the body design and engine are being synchronized for best fit. You can see lots of spaces within the “engine room” as if the designers are leaving as much spaces as possible for the final type of engine to be decided by whoever was in charge of that area. As a result you can fit a goat or two inside the engine area or even to stock some cooking oils. The interior is nothing to shout since it’s plainly simple due to obvious reason. But you just got to see the greatest invention ever done by the Proton team at the car’s boot.

However you can’t complain much since the car was the cheapest by Malaysia standard, never mind safety features such as airbags and ABS (anti braking system) are secondary. Still, this new Proton Saga is better than Savvy obviously.
Other Articles That May Interest You … 

• Move aside iPod Nano, here come Tata Nano
• Volkswagen sets to Control PROTON, in 5-years?
• New PROTON Model with Old Design Launched
• Why Proton Needs Rebranding as Europestar for China?

Take profit on Friday Expiration, Baidu is Sinking

From green to red, that’s what was happening to the Wall Street these couple of days. The volatility is simply fantastic. And today’s (Friday) trading session is extraordinary volatile due to options expiration Friday. As usual, I believe most investors are aware of the US economy’s status and how the prospect of recession is still drumming, after all these months (aren’t they tired?). Being a small trader, you simply can’t swim against them if you plan to make money. And with such gloomy days, the best bet is still short the stock or play the Put Option.

Earlier, I mentioned the time couldn’t be better to make money on Baidu.comand if you care to take a look at the stock price of Baidu.com now, you can see this stock is really driving into the pit-stop at $220 before going down to $200 a share level. Baidu.com is condemned, cursed, ailing and whatever you want to call it. But the fact is Baidu.com is sinking faster than Titanic - the stock price plunges more than $100 a share in Jan 2008 alone and with slightly more than a week before the end of the first month of the New Year, you shouldn’t be surprise if the stock could actually lose $200 a share.

Also in the earlier article I mentioned there’s nothing much (or strategy) I could do today except to close some profitable position which is expiring today, unless I wish to spend more time monitoring and filtering stocks for scalping of which I don’t. Google Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOG, stock) and Apple Inc.’s (Nasdaq: AAPL,stock) are two of my positions which I closed to realize the profit. Google Inc. is struggling to stay above $600 but not for long if the bearish sentiment persists. I’ll still leave my other Apple Inc., Priceline.com Incorporated and of course Baidu.com Put Options to run.

So, if you’ve taken the action to short Baidu.com, congratulations. If not, what’s your plan in the current bearish market? Don’t be sulky over a couple of unprofitable long positions but to analyze and do something about how to salvage it. What better day to short the stocks if not now? But please be aware of the technical rebound since the Dow is at lower part of 12,000 mark.