Do we need any proof than this that TA cannot predict how the market will perform?

Market close: Banking, plantations help KLCI avert monthly loss
http://www.theedgemalaysia.com/highlights/231852-market-close-banking-plantations-help-klci-avert-monthly-loss.html

Contrast this with this:

Market open: KLCI edges up, but on course for monthly loss
http://www.theedgemalaysia.com/mobile/article.php?id=231762&pid=1

Who is moving prices?

Charlatans aplenty here. If they are any good, they won't he hawking their useless wares here. Wise up!

Imf_hau, sorry unable to advise you. I'm not a chartist and I'm not good at TA. Always get it wrong. I'm a fundamental long-term investor with an average 10-year strategy. So I'm not affected by price fluctuations. Like many here I find this stock a good long term buy. As you can see, its price has been falling gradually and surely. I wouldn't be surprise if it keeps falling unabated until the powers that be decide that it has fallen enough to let it rise. Those who read charts must know that you are not the only ones reading them. It is the big boys with the financial muscles who call the shots. Charts can never predict how a stock will perform in the future.

Thank you Mr Ooi, we'll let readers here be the judge. I'm flattered that you responded angrily to my "nonsense". That speaks volume. Have a nice day.

Gark you're right. That's the point I've been trying to make all the while. We're buying a (small) part of the business; not shares.

Mr Ooi, evidently you're wrong, your charts are wrong and your trading system is most unreliable. The fact is the price has fallen from 2.00 to 1.83 today since January 7. The price has fallen to a low of 1.77 in the last 4 weeks. At the time of writing the buying rate is 27%. It is futile and absurd to say your paroblic SAR is showing a buy signal now. If so, how do you explain the selling? It is no shame to admit that we're wrong when our mistakes are staring glaringly back at us. We're humans and we're not infallible. Investments entail risks and we've no one to blame but ourselves if we've made the wrong decision. Let's come down to Earth. Cheers.

Slower growth ahead for Padini
http://www.theedgemalaysia.com/in-the-financial-daily/231429-slower-growth-ahead-for-padini-.html

{Kfima - Buy
Author: Ooi Teik Bee | Publish date: Fri, 18 Jan 22:36
Technical analysis done by Ooi Teik Bee

Conclusion

The price is showing up trending, it crossed 20 days EMA, GMMA is also bullish. My SharesXPert system confirmed that it is an up trending stock now. Green arrow appears to show a buy signal.

According to I3Investor, the target price is 2.91, a potential gain of 42% if you buy at 2.05.

I do not recommend to buy on contra, please buy for investment in 2013.}

Mr Ooi posted the above on Fri, 18 Jan 22:36 (http://klse.i3investor.com/blogs/OoiTeikBee/23796.jsp)

Evidently, Mr Ooi and his "My SharesXPert system" are wrong. People make mistakes and we should be magnaminous in forgiving them. We don't have to be abusive towards them.

There is no fool-proof trading system and charts cannot predict the future. Chartists only are wise after the facts. And who says charts don't lie? Cheers.

Types of corporate proposal: Private Placement

Details of corporate proposal: Placement of new ordinary shares of RM0.75 each in S P Setia Berhad ("Company") representing up to 15% of the issued and paid-up share capital of the Company

No. of shares issued under this corporate proposal: 320,700,000

Issue price per share: ($$) MYR 2.940

Par Value: ($$) MYR 0.750

Latest issued and paid up share capital after the above corporate proposal in the following

Units: 2,458,712,252
Currency: MYR 1,844,034,189.000
Listing Date: 25/02/2013

http://www.bursamalaysia.com/market/listed-companies/company-announcements/1204513

Mr Ooi, as a student of the Chinese language and literature I must say I've never heard of such a "Chinese" proverb. But I know this saying: 生在苏州, 活在杭州, 吃在广州, 死在柳州 which means "born in Suzhou, live in Hangzhou, eat in Guangzhou, die in Liuzhou". Malaysia afterall is not China.

In any case any government democratic or otherwise owe their citizens a duty of care, social welfare, and good governance. Please note that all communist countries claim to be democratic. The official title of North Korea is the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and China calls itself the People's Republic of China even though it is a single-party communist and socialist state. Its claim to a people's republic makes it democratic. Cheers!

"Posted by azam87 > Feb 21, 2013 11:35 AM | Report Abuse

http://www.businessinsider.com/debt-gdp-world-rankings-2011-04?op=1

can anyone clarify this? if we were to compare with Singapore, their debt to GDP ratio is 102.4% where else Malaysia is 53%

I'm no expert but I do understand what that ratio meant. Please advise."

Dear azam87, I think the difference between Singpore's indebtedness and Malaysia's is that Singapore has no foreign debts. All its government borrowings are domestic. It's biggest lender is the Central Provident Fund (CPF), a pension fund similar to Malaysia's EPF. Thus investors are generally at ease with Singapore's debts as there is no likelihood of it defaulting on them. Countries with a lot of foreign debts may not be able to pay their debts when they are due and this will lead to ratings downgrade that makes borrowing even more costly, loss in investors' confidence and exchange rate fluctuations that will weaken the debtor couuntries which had to at least pay interest and/or part of their foreign debts mostly in US dollar, Yen or Euro.

You just have to recall the 1998 financial crisis to know the danger and repercussions of having too much foreign borrowing.

Yes, we've been buying. From the Star: "Foreign funds buy net RM458m of Malaysian equities in week ended Jan 31"

The Start reports:

KOTA BARU: PAS spiritual adviser Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat said the general election is crucial for the party to achieve its goal of forming an Islamic government to replace the current secular regime.

“Only political parties that embrace Islam in their struggle are safe in this world and the hereafter.

“If Umno wants to unite with PAS, they will have to discard nationalism and adopt Islam in their policies,” the Kelantan Mentri Besar, who had just returned from an umrah pilgrimage, told a gathering at the Sultan Muhammed IV Stadium here yesterday.

Nik Aziz also denounced the cash aid the Federal Government is handing out to the people, saying Islam encourages the dissemination of knowledge and frowns upon the splurging of money.

He said giving handouts was like luring farm livestock to animal feed.

“It is like scattering padi and coconut husks in front of chickens and cows to entice them to come closer,” he said, in an apparent reference to the 1Malaysia People's Aid (BR1M) that is currently being given out to eligible citizens nationwide.

Under BR1M 2.0, about 2.7 million single and unmarried individuals earning less than RM2,000 will receive RM250, while 4.3 million households earning RM3,000 and less will get RM500.

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2013/2/21/nation/12739173&sec=nation

I always say we need to have a great sense of humour to survive in Malaysia. Whatever has happened to the so-called "gurus" who gleefully advise people here: "Be greedy when others are fearful". It's a shame that ironically these "gurus" are fearful themselves. Malaysians want change, yet are unwilling to pay the price of change. If they are hoping that the opposition would form the next government, then they should be optimistic and not fearful of the outcome that they're yearning for. It's great to be in Malaysia. Every day is a happy day! There's always something to laugh about.

See it from the foreigners' viewpoint: It doesn't matter to us who form the next government. We're confident that whoever gets to rule will be quick to regain local and foreign investors' confidence in Malaysia's economy. There is too much at stake. What we like about this election is that it is given the market enough jitters to drive down prices making many stocks cheap and ripe for the picking. And this is what we like about Malaysia: Predictable, easily shaken and easy to make money with very little capital outlay!

Looks like it is heading for a free fall on Friday or next week. That should be good news. Well, who knows?

You cannot separate politics from economics. They are an integral part of each other. Otherwise the stock market will not be jittery over the coming general election. The funny part is that Malaysians are fearful of he outcome of the polls. But we foreigners are buying on the cheap and will be buying more as stock prices fall. But, alas, I don't have the money!

"The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI Index fell 0.4 percent at the close in Kuala Lumpur today. It has fallen 4.3 percent after hitting a record on Jan. 7 on concern Barisan Nasional may win fewer seats in parliament. It’s the worst performing benchmark stock index in Asia Pacific this year." - Bloomberg

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-02-17/malaysia-s-election-faces-scrutiny-after-australian-expelled.html

We also have many Malaysians who come illegally to work as cooks, kitchen helpers, janitors and street cleaners. Many earn below the minimum wage and are ironically exploited by bosses who were formerly Malaysians. Believe me, Malaysia is a great country despite its shortcomings.

Here are some comments from our expat community:

"Yes, you can live on RM 12,000 per month. We are happily living in a brand new housing project and the three bedroom house next door is for rent at RM 2,000 per month and it is a wonderful place for children as they can play outside on bikes etc in complete safety. I would say that a car is an absolute essential. Malaria is rare and you only need to take precautions when travelling in certain, well documented areas outside of the city. There are some excellent, well informed general practitioners here and some specialists. We love life here and if our children were still living at home we would have been very happy for them to grow up and be educated here." - Paula B.

"We have been living here for nearly 5 years.... This would be one of the most frendly cities in the world. Not much crime here. You only have to read the local newspapers. " - David W.

These are only two examples. There are many more in our club forum.

Malaysians, please be thankful and grateful for what you have. You don't know what you are wishing for. Please don't live to regret.

Nothing wrong with them. We have many Indians, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, Chinese, Malaysians, Singaporeans, people from Hong Kong, Filipinos, Indonesians, Vietnamese, Africans, Arabs, and you name it in London and other parts of Britain. We are more cosmopolitan than Malaysia!

You can have my Singapore and UK citizenships. Just give me your Malaysian citizenship.

From Singapore and UK. Living permanently in Malaysia.

Anybody want to change place with me? I love Malaysia for all its imperfections.

Thanks bingo, aha, Arab music, Islamic law and punishment. So, Malaysians are looking forward gleefully to the day their country will become an Islamic state when the PR comes to power with a vengeance.

Posted by New Insight Sabah > Feb 13, 2013 10:34 PM | Report Abuse X

Have no fear. Any post election downturn will be temporary. Market will rise if the BN wins with a comfortable simple majority. Otherwise market will be depressed for a little longer if there is a hung parliament or the PR wins the government. Most economists are agreed that the PR will not be able to fulfil its promises and will have to continue with BN economic policies albeit with some modifications. There will be a period of economic uncertainly, horse trading and realignment of business alliances, boardroom changes, new appointments of top officials in key government financial institutions such as Bursa, Bank Negara, etc. But a PR government is unlikely to upset the applecart too much and will be bent on winning local and foreign investors' confidence by keeping things relatively unchanged. The only fear is that there may be an attempt by PAS and PKR to turn Malaysia into an Islamic state, leaving the DAP in the cold and and rending it impotent. The Islamic state may come into being with Umno throwing its weight behind PAS and PKR all in the name of Muslim solidarity. It will have no choice. To do otherwise will make it an "infidel" in the eyes of Muslims and alienate it from the Malays.

Continues from the previous comment of The Economist Intelligence Unit:

Yet the PR will be judged on how quickly it makes good on its election pledges. In Malaysia's richest state, Selangor, the alliance has already been accused of breaking its promises. The BN, which is in opposition in Selangor, claims that the PR has implemented only 15% of the M$2.4bn-worth of its 31 election pledges, made in the 2008 PR manifesto. The promises include financial assistance for pre-school education, and for university students, senior citizens and the disabled; free healthcare for those over 65; lower property taxes; and assistance for home buyers. Selangor's chief minister, Khalid Ibrahim, commented that a manifesto is not a promise but conceded that voters may think otherwise.

To help to strengthen the country's public finances, the PR is relying heavily on the eradication of corruption, greater transparency and better financial management. This is part of a broader effort to reform the Malaysian economy, which includes dismantling cartels, the abolition of monopolies and reforming the role of government-linked companies. For example, in December 2012 the PR published an alternative budget for Perak, the state assembly of which it lost to the BN in February 2009 after four PR assembly members defected to the coalition. Under the BN, Perak had a history of successive fiscal deficits. The PR's alternative budget promises a large increase in total revenue and no fiscal shortfalls. It says that it would achieve this through better financial management and accountability; an end to corruption and cronyism; open tenders for all public undertakings; and through the revival of the state's mineral industries.

New voters on the block

The latest opinion polls show that Mr Najib remains popular, with an approval rating of more than 60%, according to a survey conducted by a local pollster, the Merdeka Centre, in December 2012. But support for the BN was much weaker, with just 47% of those surveyed saying that they were satisfied with the government. This disparity might translate into a loss of seats for the BN at the next election. Both the BN and the PR will need to appeal to young, first-time voters, given that nearly 3m people in this crucial voting block have been added to the electoral register since the last election. The bulk of this group is undecided about which party to vote for and could swing the outcome of the next poll. Both sides will also need to appeal to voters in Sabah and Sarawak. Currently, lawmakers from the two eastern states combined account for one–third of the total number of sitting BN members of parliament.

The stakes are high for both the BN and the PR. The bidding war is likely to continue as both sides make preparations for what is being billed as one of the hardest-fought elections in Malaysia's history. On the one hand, Mr Najib needs to win big in order to secure the future of his reform agenda, while on the other hand, the opposition leader, Anwar Ibrahim, wants to be the first to break the BN's stranglehold on power.

From The Economist Intelligence Unit:

A fiscal bidding war

The main opposition Pakatan Rakyat (PR) alliance is making many costly promises to the electorate in its eagerness to gain power. However, the price of a PR victory to the Malaysian economy has attracted less attention than the generosity of the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition government, which has spent lavishly in two consecutive budgets in order to please voters. In addition, the government is offering many local incentives to ensure the return of BN representatives at federal and state level. For example, the prime minister recently offered Penang's opposition-controlled state assembly 20,000 affordable houses and a monorail to ease traffic congestion. The next election is likely to be a tight race, but we do not expect the outcome to lead to a dramatic improvement in the public finances.

The budgets for 2011 and 2012 were crammed with voter-pleasing measures and helped to raise expectations of an early parliamentary election, which many observers believed would be held in early or mid-2012. Previous BN governments rarely served a full term and preferred to call a poll a year before the end of their term. However, for various reasons the prime minister, Najib Razak, decided to break with his predecessors and appears set to oversee the BN's first full term of office in decades. Both budgets offered cash handouts to low-income families and extra bonuses for civil servants. The 2013 budget, which was unveiled in September 2012, included a cut in the income tax rate and transport discounts for low-income groups, in addition to cash handouts and smartphone purchase incentives for low-earning individuals.

Fiscal imprudence

One consequence of the BN's near defeat in the March 2008 general election has been slow progress in reducing the budget deficit, which the government estimates at the equivalent of 4.5% of nominal GDP in 2012 and forecasts to narrow to 4% in 2013. Subsidy cuts and tax increases lose votes. At some point this year, when all of the voter-related fiscal incentives are added up, the 13th general election will be shown to have been the most expensive poll in Malaysia's history. Although successive BN governments (which have governed Malaysia for more than five decades) and a wide-ranging subsidy scheme are to blame for the country's weak fiscal position, Mr Najib has made tackling Malaysia's persistent fiscal weaknesses one of his long-term policy objectives. However, only a clear victory for the BN would prompt it to accord a higher priority to this particular policy initiative—outlined in Mr Najib's medium- to long-term transformation plan.

By contrast, comments from the PR indicate no commitment to tackling Malaysia's weak public finances. The opposition alliance's economic agenda is intended to appeal strongly to a younger electorate and, taken collectively, appear as fiscally imprudent if not more so than the BN's voter-pleasing measures. The PR's populist items include free secondary education (abolition of student loans); lower car prices (through reform of the National Automotive Policy); a higher monthly minimum wage (of M$1,200, or US$390, compared with M$900 under the BN); the elimination of toll roads; and lower fuel prices. The oil-producing eastern states of Sabah and Sarawak would receive a larger share of oil and gas royalties, of 20%, compared with 5% at present. The PR also has no plans to expand the tax base, whereas the BN is likely to adopt a new goods and services tax (GST) later this year. Recently, the PR added a promise to lower electricity tariffs, which would be paid for by renegotiating supply contracts with the independent power producers, as well as through the sale of the finance ministry's stake in the national electricity utility, Tenaga Nasional.

Broken promises

The total cost of the PR's campaign promises is unclear, but revenue collection would be hampered by giving a larger share of oil royalties to the eastern states. BN politicians have criticised the PR's policy agenda, believing that the implementation of its measures would threaten the country's financial future. It is clearly not feasible to implement all of the measures in one go. For example, providing free secondary education would cost the government M$43bn (US$14.1bn), while abolishing car duty would cut tax revenue by M$4.6bn a year. (more to follow)

恭喜發財 ! 請不要吵架！大家做好好的朋友. 祝大家蛇年快樂 !

Happy Chinese New Year! 恭喜發財! Will this be a snake and ladder year? Have fun!

KUALA LUMPUR: SP Setia Bhd plans to raise up to RM962.1mil (US$310.51mil) from a share sale, Thomson Reuters subsidiary IFR reported on Thursday.

SP Setia will sell 320.7 million shares, which represent 15% of the existing paid up capital, with an indicative price ranging between RM2.88 and RM3 per share, IFR reported

The price range represents up to a 7.1% discount to the last close of RM3.10 per share.

Maybank is the sole bookrunner for the sale, IFR said. - Reuters

http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2013/2/7/business/20130207171043&sec=business

Big sales start tomorrow.

From the market sentiment, it seems that Malaysians have no confidence in a new government despite their desire for change. So in the final reckoning, they will still vote BN back to power. It being the better of two evils or better the devil I know than the deep blue sea that I don't.

Very true. But I don't have the money to be greedy! Am stuck with paper losses.

Thanks to TA, bought 10,000 at 1.13 on 12.12.12, sold today at 0.985. Earlier, bought at 0.915 and sold at 1.07 on 05.12.12 all based on TA. Brokers made money. I didn't.

Has anyone accused him of cheating? Why is he on the defensive?

My average cost is now 1.925.

Sweet smell of success for low-cost carrier Scoot
http://www.theage.com.au/travel/sweet-smell-of-success-for-lowcost-carrier-20130201-2dopq.html

In a nutshell, AirAsia can't compete anymore!

Extracts from the report on the Scoot advantage:

"It's all a bit complex, but essentially what this means for Australian travellers is they can fly cut-price through Singapore and on to various south-east Asian destinations via a combination of airlines, but need only book one ticket. The airlines are calling these tickets "joint itineraries" rather than codeshares - in industry jargon this is called an "interline".
It also means Aussie passengers buying cut-price tickets may find themselves in full-service economy-class seats on the premium airlines, SilkAir and SIA."

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/travel/sweet-smell-of-success-for-lowcost-carrier-20130201-2dopq.html#ixzz2JnHQbDIp

"Top of the tastes
Flight search site Skyscanner's latest survey of inflight meal quality has pulled up a few surprises.
Two hundred travellers rated their inflight meals based on taste, presentation and choice, as well as value for money.
Tiger Airways triumphed in the "low-cost airline" category, pipping Scoot, AirAsia, Korean airline Jeju Air and China's Spring Airlines, which completed the top five.
Singapore Airlines won the "short haul" category, with Garuda Indonesia, Korean Air, Philippine Airlines and China Southern making up the top five.
It was in the long-haul category that the real surprise arose. Garuda Indonesia pipped Korean Air, Singapore Airlines, AirAsia X and Air China for dining."

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/travel/sweet-smell-of-success-for-lowcost-carrier-20130201-2dopq.html#ixzz2JnGzv9Pa

We'll have to go back to basics and ask why does a company pay a dividend in the first place? And where do dividends come from? Mr Chong has rightly said in his earlier comments on growth companies which are unlikely to pay a lot of dividends if they have to plough back profits for business expansion or new ventures. Some may not even pay dividends while others try to strike a balance. Thus dividends must necessarily come from profits. Alarm bells should ring if companies have to borrow to pay dividends. Red flags should be raised if debt equity ratio is higher than 0.5. But then investors and traders can be irrational and would still take a risk on companies with debt to equity ratio of 1.1 or higher. AirAsia comes to mind.

MyEG picked to manage BL1M http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2013/2/2/business/12660813&sec=business

Chua: Bursa will plunge if PR wins
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2013/2/2/nation/12661867&sec=nation

Ringgit at 5-month low on bond outflows; most Asia FX down
http://www.theedgemalaysia.com/mobile/article.php?id=230140&pid=1

Can't agree with you more. This is one stock that I kind of take a little risk speculating and learning a little about TA. Sad to say here is where I lose money. Analyst reports must be read with caution and most of the time to be taken with a pinch of salt. Keep up the good work. I'm still learning the ropes.

Yes, indeed. Bought another 10,000.

I'm stuck at 2.00. The market seems to be fearful of a change in government. And so this explains the election jitters. May have to keep this stock for 10 or 20 years.

kccchongnz, you're right. Though I've made money on this stock twice. Now I've a small paper loss.

Will this Chinese New Year be fire-cracker red?

Only the big boys (the insiders and syndicates of course) can dictate stock prices Those who look at charts must remember that not only you are looking at them. These big boys and syndicates know what you're thinking and they will decide whether to yield or turn the tables against you. Thus the unexpected 40-point drop on Jan 21 and yesterday's 21-point drop when all of Asia recorded a 17-month stock market high! They play on your fear and flock mentality. Happy trading!

It's just a tennis or badminton match between foreign and local funds. Foreign funds were net buyers during the big Jan 21 fall. So it's not surprising for them to take some profit today. And it's the local funds' turn to buy. When they start selling, the foreign funds will buy. So let the game play on. In this game mostly the small retailers who buy and sell on TA will be caught with their pants down. It's a win-win for the local and foreign funds.

This is what I said on Dec 5, 2012 03:42 PM: "Chartwise, Perisa is in a downtrend. I think it is heading for a free fall if it breaks 1.06 before finding support at 50SMA of 1.035. I have decided to take profit today at 1.07 having bought it at 0.915. I was tempted to sell at 1.16, 1.12 and 1.10 but hesitated until now. Hope I'm right. I'm never good at reading charts."

And this is what I said on Dec 6: "... but I wouldn't hold it for long since it is in a very volatile industry. If you look at some of the recent history of such companies, you will know what I mean."

Once again, I'm proven right.

I didn't recall anyone here who predicted that the market would fall by 40 points on January 21. If I were to follow the cut loss strategy of many "gurus" here, I would have lost my pants. I bought 10,000 shares of KFIMA at 2.00 and the stock fell to 1.85. I bought 10,000 SPSetia at 3.20 and it fell to 3.05. I know I asked that question before but I'm asking again: how long and how much can anyone afford to keep cutting losses when the market turn against them?

No. Bought at 2.00 and will keep it. Bought some more at 1.92 and 1.90. Will buy more as the price falls; that is if I still have the cash.

20,000 shares are just chicken feed.