Low natural rubber prices boost production of gloves

By Star Online: Business
31 July 2012

THE recent inaugural roundtable on the rubber glove industry has provided a deeper insight into the game plan of the nation's top rubber glove players to stay competitive and still reign as the world's largest producers of the product.

Malaysian manufacturers account for about 60% of global demand. The major players include Top Glove Corp Bhd, Supermax Corp Bhd,Kossan Rubber Industries Bhd and Hartalega Holdings Bhd.

Even though industry players' production costs are set to escalate further following the minimum wage policy and the expected removal of subsidies on natural gas by the Government, many are undeterred and will continue with their expansion programme locally and abroad.

"Greyjing"? Air pollution fouls Beijing's name

By Star Online: Business
30 July 2012

BEIJING: With its parks, centuries-old palaces, history and culture, Beijing should be one of the more pleasant capitals of the world. Instead, it's considered among the worst to live in because of chronic air pollution.

Lung cancer rates are rising among the 20 million residents of China's capital, health officials say. For many multinational companies, Beijing is considered a hardship posting and, despite the extra allowances that classification brings, some executives are leaving.

On some days, Beijing is enveloped in a brownish-grey smog, so thick it gets indoors, stings the eyes and darkens the sky in the middle of the day.

US Economics Reports 30th July to 3rd Aug

By Market Watch
28 July 2012

NEXT WEEK'S U.S. ECONOMIC REPORTS

TIME (ET)	REPORT	PERIOD	ACTUAL	FORECAST	PREVIOUS
MONDAY, JULY 30
	None scheduled
TUESDAY, JULY 31
8:30 am	Personal income	June		0.4%`	0.2%
8:30 am	Consumer spending	June		0.1%	0.0%
8:30 am	Core PCE price index	June		0.2%	0.1%
8:30 am	Employment cost index	June		0.5%	0.4%
9 am	Case-Shiller home prices	May		--	1.3% nsa
9:45 am	Chicago PMI	July		52.0%	52.9%
10 am	Consumer confidence index	July		61.5	62.0
WEDNESDAY, AUG. 1
8:15 am	ADP employment	July		--	176,000
8:58 am	Markit PMI	July		--	52.5
10 am	ISM	July		50.5%	49.7%
10 am	Construction spending	June		0.4%	0.9%
2:15 pm	FOMC announcement
TBA	Motor vehicle sales	July		14.0 mln	14.1 mln
THURSDAY, AUG. 2
8:30 am	Weekly jobless claims	7-28		370,000	350,000
10 am	Factory orders	June		0.3%	0.7%
FRIDAY, AUG. 3
8:30 am	Nonfarm payrolls	July		110,000	80,000
8:30 am	Unemployment rate	July		8.2%	8.2%
10 am	ISM nonmanufacturing	July		52.9%	52.1%

BookXcess a runaway success

By Star Online: Business
28 July 2012

“ HIS methods do work in some weird sense,” says BookXcess co-founder, Jacqueline Ng, of her partner in business and in life Andrew Yap.

The comment may be a little off-hand, but it is also strangely in character with the bubbly, thirty-something husband-and-wife team who are attempting this year to break their own record for the world's largest book sale.

They are remarkably frank about what makes BookXcess, the venture they founded to sell cheap books only six years ago, a runaway success.

Good investing prospects in emerging markets

By Star Online: Business
28 July 2012

LONG equities. Long commodities. Asean is the next big story. Europe is going to come out better after this whole mess these are the key messages from emerging market's most influential investor, Dr Mark Mobius.

What does Mobius think is the next big thing in the economy?

A cure for cancer is coming, and anything that can satisfy instant gratification through the production of machines is on the cards, says Mobius.

分享锦集:速远(ZHULIAN)是迷你安利●冷眼

By Nanyang.com
28 July 2012

上市公司多达九百多家，良莠不齐，只有一部份素质较佳，值得买进作为投资。

这“一部份”，也有三、五百家，要从三、五百家公司中，选出三、五家值得投资的，谈何容易。

股市中人，绝大部份不做功课，或者不会做功课，要他们在九百多家公司中，分出优劣，作出正确投资决定，难之又难。

大部份股市中人，索性选择走捷径－投机，不理会股票的基本面，只靠“消息”，抢进杀出，结果是大部份搞到焦头烂额。

其实，只要多读多看，要在九百多家公司中，找到三、五家值得你投资的股票，也不是不可能。

但首先你必须要“心中有股”，才有可能找到你梦寐以求的好股。

Warren Buffett’s winning ways, 50 years on - Famed investor’s ‘Ground Rules’ from early 1960s hold true

By Market Watch
27 July 2012

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Warren Buffett doesn’t usually make market predictions, but in an early July letter to shareholders, the legendary investor offered insights to help them through a treacherous stretch for stocks.

“I think you can be quite sure that over the next ten years there are going to be a few years when the general market is plus 20% or 25%, a few when it is minus on the same order, and a majority when it is in between,” Buffett wrote. “I haven’t any notion as to the sequence in which these will occur, nor do I think it is of any great importance for the long-term investor.”

Future in online buying

By Star Online: Business
26 July 2012

E-COMMERCE continues to see incredible growth amid the global economic uncertainty in the past year. A global report released by JPMorgan in 2011 indicates that e-commerce revenue around the world is expected to hit US$963bil this year.

Closer to home, the online shopping market in Malaysia alone is expected to grow at an accelerated pace from RM842mil in 2011 to exceed RM1.9bil in 2016, according to an Euromonitor survey conducted in 2011.

Water is the new gold, a big commodity bet

By MarketWatch
24 July 2012

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. (MarketWatch) — “Is water the gold of the 21st century?” asks Fortune. Answer: Yes, water is the New Gold for investors this century.

In 2010 global water generated over a half trillion dollars of revenue. Global world population will explode from 7 billion today to 10 billion by 2050, predicts the United Nations. And over one billion “lack access to clean drinking water.”

Reuters

A girl carries a container of water on her head at a creek in Myanmar's new capital Naypyitaw.

Climate and weather patterns are changing natural water patterns. And industrial pollution is making water a scarce commodity. So the good news is that huge “opportunities exist for businesses that can figure out how to keep the pipes flowing.”

Yes, it’s a hot market. So, expand your vision for a minute. How many bottles of water do you drink a week? How much did you use for a shower? When you flushed a toilet? Wash your car? Cooking? Lattes? And my guess is your city water bill’s gone up in recent years.

So ask yourself: What happens in the next 40 years when another three billion people come into the world? Imagine adding 75 million people every year, six million a month, 200,000 every day, all demanding more and more water to drink, to shower, to cook, to everything. All guzzling down the New Gold that’s getting ever scarcer.

Axiata Strong dividend potential for relatively cheap telco play

Star Online: Business
23 July 2012

THE excitement on Axiata Group Bhd is almost palpable. The stock is currently playing catch-up to its peers of Maxis Bhdand DiGi.Com Bhd and the noise on the grapevine has been all about more dividends along with foreign buying of the stock.

Since the start of June, Axiata has been literally northbound. From the RM5.20 level, Axiata has been steadily climbing, and touched its 52-week high of RM6.23 on July 16. As of last Friday, the stock was down 10 sen to close at RM5.89 with a turnover of 15.1 million shares.

Over the last 12 months, Maxis and DiGi have been firm favourites of the institutions, with their share prices appreciating by 30% to 60%, versus Axiata's 20% rise.

“We see room for Axiata to outperform peers in the next six months, particularly considering peers' inflated valuations and Axiata's strategic position to spring surprise catalysts from an under-leveraged balance sheet,” said an AmResearch analyst.

Roubini sticks to 2013 'perfect storm' prediction

By Star Online: Business
18 July 2012

NEW YORK: Economist Nouriel Roubini is standing by his prediction for a global "perfect storm" next year as economies the world over slow down or shudder to a complete halt, geopolitical risk grows and the euro zone's debt crisis accelerates.

Roubini, the New York University professor dubbed "Dr Doom" for predicting the 2008 financial crisis, highlighted five factors that could derail the global economy.

Those factors are a worsening of the debt crisis in Europe; tax increases and spending cuts in United Sates that may push the world's biggest economy into recession; a hard landing for China's economy; further slowing in emerging markets; and a military confrontation with Iran.

How to stay on top of your game

By Star Online: Business
14 July 2012

WITH over 90% of businesses in Malaysia comprising small and medium enterprises (SMEs), one can expect the quest for survival to be fierce and intense. Having the right financial strategy in place is definitely a key ingredient for success, but even the most seasoned entrepreneur makes mistakes.

The following are just a handful of the financial errors that small businesses can and do make – and need to avoid.

No business plan

One of the most common mistakes when starting up a business is the lack of proper planning.

Leaders always execute and get things done

By Star Online: Business
14 July 2012

THESE past weeks, I interacted with various Malaysian corporate leaders and observed a common thread among them they always achieved their goals, regardless of circumstance.

For example, Suhaimi Sulong, current HR leader at Proton, shared with me a personal story when he was a young sales person at IBM. He had a meeting with a potential client at the airport and was close to nailing the sale. Unfortunately, the client's flight to Japan was boarding but he had yet closed the deal. Suhaimi did not want to lose that sale. So, got a ticket to Japan, sat next to his potential client on the flight and convinced him to sign the deal. He took the next flight back with the closed sale in hand.

It’s a dangerous world out there

By Star Online: Business
14 July 2012

Naive politics will create uncertainty and undermine public confidence.

I DELIVERED the 19th Tun Dr Ismail Oration at the 46th Malaysia-Singapore Congress of Medicine in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday. Here are excerpts.

In search of safe haven

The surest sign that all is not well about the global economy is when investors rush to buy gilt-edged or sovereign bonds of the US, Germany, UK and Japan. Indeed, they are even prepared to “pay” (after adjusting for inflation) the German and Japanese governments for the privilege of holding their two-year bonds which earn them practically nothing. They will even lend to US, Germany and UK for 10 years in exchange for bonds yielding a nominal 1.5% a year. What they receive is a return below the target inflation rate set by central banks!

MISC shares on the rise, but analysts cautious on its prospects and outlook of shipping

By Star Online: Business
13 July 2012

PETALING JAYA: MISC Bhd's share price has been on the rise since it fell to a low of RM3.87 on June 5.

Since then, the share price had risen 19.6% or 76 sen to its closing at RM4.63 yesterday. Analysts believe the run-up was due to retracement in bunker costs leading to potential improvement in margins.

Earlier in May the company announced losses of RM465mil for the first quarter ended March 31, 2012 (Q112) due to lower operating profit generated. Despite the recent run-up of its share price, analysts remain cautious on the outlook of the company's prospects and industry.

In a Kenanga Research note, analysts said: “We believe it will continue to be plagued by several factors that are now affecting the shipping industry, namely sluggish charter rates, unyielding bunker costs and a continuous overcapacity.”

Situation fluid for Genting amid S’pore casino law review

By Star Online: Business
10 July 2012

PETALING JAYA: There is much uncertainty as to how the Singapore government's proposed changes to its casino law will impact Genting Bhd and its 52%-owned unit Genting Singapore, whose Resorts World Sentosa is one of only two casino resorts in the island-republic.

Analysts who spoke to StarBiz said the situation was fluid as the proposals, which aim to impose harsher penalties and restrictions on gaming operators and their patrons, were at the public feedback stage and only scheduled to be tabled in Singapore's parliament at the end of the year.

‘Cut-throat’ competition among telcos likely to hurt margins, say analysts

By Star Online: Business
7 July 2012

INTENSE competition within the local telecommunication industry is driving the service providers to adopt strategies to increase their share of the market.

Analysts say the industry is exciting as all the mobile service incumbents are gearing up for a possibly “cut-throat” competition.

While competition is healthy for the industry, the ongoing price war among the telcos may hurt profit margins, they say.

When to spread investments and not sit on savings

By Star Online: Business
7 July 2012

AT my favourite kopitiam recently, a customer was distressed to find that his morning cuppa now cost RM1.30. It struck him that the price of his breakfast coffee had been climbing up steadily. Three years ago, he remembered, it had cost him RM1 to get his routine caffeine fix.

“That means, inflation is pushing prices up by 10% annually,” he pointed out anxiously.

Too good to be true, really

By Star Online: Business
7 July 2012

Know how to sniff out shady deals that promise high returns on small investments

JASPAL Singh (not his real name) remembers attending a private seminar with a cousin many years ago, where the speaker was promoting a get-rich-quick scheme that involved investing in auctioned properties.

“There were many people at the event and the scheme seemed very legitimate. It promised high returns and for the first two years, the money was good.”

“But going into my third year, the whole thing fell apart. The money stopped coming in and one day, the whole operation just ceased to exist! I lost a lot of money between RM40,000 and RM50,000,” he recalls.

What If Social Security Disability Runs Out Of Money?

By Investopedia

18 June 2012

How well do you understand Social Security? If you're a baby boomer close to retirement age, you might have more knowledge than most. If you're not, the only thing you may know about Social Security is all of the talk that the fund may be bankrupt before Generation Y retires. Whether that's true or not is a topic of debate, but there's more to social security than the retirement program. A bigger issue is only four years away and it's an issue that you've likely heard little about, but may have a big impact on more than 11 million Americans.

Why Are We Still Talking About Greece?

By Investopidia

18 June 2012

The expression "sell in May and go away" has been around for a lot longer than the economic crisis in southern Europe, but as the U.S. markets once again had a tough May it looks like the bad penny that is the Greek/Spanish crisis has turned up once again. While this is admittedly a complicated situation, it's entirely fair for investors in North America to ask why we are all still forced to talk about this mess and why it continues to impact our markets and economy.

Fastest Growing Small Business Sectors

By Investopidia

19 June 2012

Despite the economy's dismal bounce back from the recession, there are some small business sectors that have thrived during this time and are expected to do well over the next few years. A recent report from IBISWorld, which publishes reports on market industry research, said that some of these industries below are "expected to continue their meteoric rise and far outpace the rest of the economy."

So what are they? Some of the of fastest growing sectors involve sustainable building, personal health, social network game development and the solar panel industry. Let's take a look at how they're doing and where they're going over the next five years:

7 Ways To Save Money By Spending More

By Investopidia
5 June 2012

You hear it all of the time: In order to live a prosperous life you probably have to spend less money. There's wisdom in that advice since most consumers have little or no savings and many spend more than they make. However, spending less isn't always the best strategy. There are some areas of our life where trying to find the cheap way out may actually hurt more than help. Here are some examples of when spending more money is a smarter financial choice. 

Your Time Is Valuable
Why hire a cleaning service when you're able to do it yourself? Maybe you're turning in your leased car and it needs detailed. Why hire somebody when you can do the job just as well? The reason it could make financial sense to hire somebody is because your time has a value. If you're trying to build your career or grow your small business, cleaning and detailing take valuable time that can be spent doing more profitable activities. That doesn't mean you should go in to debt to hire a cleaner, but if you have the funds to do it, it may be more profitable to outsource.

IMF urges US to remove ‘fiscal cliff’ uncertainty

By Star Online: Business
5 July 2012

WASHINGTON: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday urged the United States to quickly remove the uncertainty over the path of fiscal policy, which is set to tighten abruptly at the start of next year without congressional action.

IMF managing director Christine Lagarde warned that just the threat of the “fiscal cliff” could weaken US economic growth later this year and she called for action to address it sooner rather than later.

REITs stand to gain, defensive qualities will shine in current trying times

By Star Online: Business
4 July 2012

PETALING JAYA: Real estate investment trusts (REITs), which focus on higher-than-market average yields, will stand out in the current uncertain economic and market environment due to their defensive qualities.

The impending listing of IGB REIT and KLCC Property Holdings Bhd's planned REIT could potentially raise investor attention to a sector otherwise viewed as a low-beta proxy to the economy.

Analysts contacted by StarBiz said they did not discount the possibility of eventual increased attention on REITs, saying that this could be a prelude to a re-rating for the sector.

Sunway - Cutting sales target and postponing launches

By Am Research

3 July 2012

-  We reaffirm our HOLD rating on Sunway Bhd (Sunway), but with our fair value cut to RM2.60/share (from RM2.70share), pegged to a 25% discount to its revised sum-of-parts value of RM3.50/share (RM3.60/share previously).

-  The lower fair value is on the back of a lower new sales assumption for FY12F following management’s revisions in planned launches and the sales target for this year. We are looking at new sales of RM850mil-RM900mil for FY12F, vs. RM1.5bil previously.