MONEY MASTER

As Brent crude oil prices hit a five and a half year low of nearly US$57 per barrel and the ringgit hit a near five year low of 3.5027 to the dollar, the FBM KLCI also slips 0.09% today and closes at 1,766.830. FBM KLCI closes at 1,766.830 There were 382 gainers against 402 decliners, while 304 counters remained unchanged. In our post earlier on the oil price slump , we were of the opinion that Bursa Malaysia would follow suit as per the declining trend of the oil price as we see a sharp drop. Today's top gainers: Hong Leong Capital Berhad, British American Tobacco Bhd and Apex Healthcare Bhd. The top decliners: Multi-Usage Holdings Bhd, Press Metal Bhd, and Aeon Co. Bhd. Hubline Bhd was the most actively traded stock for today. While the oil price dropped about 1%, the FBM KLCI only decline slightly at about 0.09%. This is most likely because of the support from the  local institutional investors. The holiday season also contribute to one of the re...

Jack Ma is already China's wealthiest man...and now he is ready to take on the world. Alibaba's Jack Ma is China's wealthiest Alibaba, named for the Arabian Nights character who uttered "Open sesame" to get into treasure cave did just that. The IPO of Alibaba raised an unprecedented $25 billion, becoming the biggest IPO in history. With that, Ma, who'd once scraped together $20 a month teaching English, joined Warren Buffet, Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg among the world's 25 richest individuals.  Unlike the usual Gates, Jobs or Zuckerberg, Jack Ma portrays himself as computer illiterate. "I've never written one code, never made one sale to a customer."   It's important to take note that before the New York IPO, the Hong Kong bourse had declined to list Alibaba Group under a structure that gave Ma and his managers control even though he wound up owning less than 8% of the stock after the offering....but that didn't s...

The good news is that the stocks continue to edge up with S&P 500 closes 1.80 higher to 2,090.57, a record high. S&P 500 edge up slightly despite oil price slump and Greece concern This happened even as there is a flight to safety triggered by a sell-off in Greek bonds, while crude oil prices tumbled after a short-lived bounce. Stocks in Athens plunged as much as 11.3 percent before closing down 3.9 percent, while yields on 10-year Greek bonds touched their highest since September 2013. On the other hand, the EURO touched the lowest in nearly 29 months against the U.S. dollar.  As for Dow Jones, there is an average down of 15.48 pts to 18,038.23 while the Nasdaq composite added 0.05 points to 4,806.91. As for the oil, the slump continues with Brent crude futures fell 2.4 percent to $58 per barrel after hitting a high of $60.43. U.S. crude lost 1.9 percent to $53.72 a barrel.  Crude oil continues to drop It is worth...

FBM KLCI continued to inch slightly higher, as the market closed at 1,768.41 points, up by 3.97 points.  Market closed slightly higher This happened despite the fact that the oil prices continued to remain sluggish while the ringgit remains weak. Among the top gainers are Asia File Corporation Bhd, Ibraco Bhd and Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd (KLK). On the other hand, Dutch Lady Milk Industries Bhd, Syarikat Takaful Malaysia Bhd and AirAsia were the top decliners.  As expected, AirAsia was also the top active counter today as the AirAsia Flight QZ8510 went missing . Many analysts are looking at AirAsia and expect to see some price weakness with the latest news.  The oil prices remained sluggish although it appeared to have stabilize while the ringgit seems to have near its bottom. It is important to note that the market lack of movement could be due to the holiday season. Many analysts are expecting to see the year end window dressing. Regionally...

Today, we are going to look at one of the technical indicator commonly used by financial analysts.... RELATIVE STRENGTH INDEX (RSI) Some people feel that technical indicator cannot be used alone while others follow the chart and pattern religiously. Generally, Relative Strength Index (RSI) is a momentum indicator that compares the magnitude of recent gains to recent losses in an attempt to determine overbought and oversold conditions of an asset.  The formula is pretty easy for one to remember: RSI = 100 - 100/(1+RS*),  where RS* = average of x days up of shares when market close/ average of x days down of shares when market close The best way to look at the relative strength index is by plotting a graph.... As you can see, the RSI ranges from 0 to 100....an asset is generally deemed to be overbought when the RSI approaches the 70 level (overvalued) while when it dropped to 30, it is viewed as oversold and therefore undervalued. It is im...

FBM KLCI close slightly higher Year-end window dressing by fund managers seem to keep FBM KLCI on a slight gain today, an increase by 5 points, 0.29% higher. The local market is also boosted by the performance in US trade. Wall Street closed at historic highs while oil prices recouped just a little of the losses suffered when Saudi Arabia dismissed curbing supply. Top gainers are mainly consumer sector such as British American Tobacco, Dutch Lady  etc. Across the region, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng declined 0.32% while South Korea’s Kospi was down 0.21%. Japan markets were closed for a holiday.

Crude oil price seems to have recover and stabilize.  To a certain extend, this was in line with what we thought on December 13th in regards to the oil near bottom .  While I'm blogging this, the crude oil price (WTI) is at USD56.13 while the crude oil (brent) is at USD60.73 per barrel. It has dropped a bit but we personally feel that the oil price will not see any more sharp decrease. The market probably feels the same way as FBM KLCI climbed 28.06 points or 1.64% as investors bought beaten blue-chip stocks. FBM KLCI climbed 28.06 points (1.64%) today However, caution must be taken as there are analysts that feel that the crude oil (brent) might fall below USD60 per barrel, but we're quite close to that mark already anyway. The top gainers for today are Petronas Gas Bhd and consumers counters like Dutch Lady and Nestle. The top decliners are Icon and Hong Leong Bank Bhd.  Regionally, Japan's Nikkei 225 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index bo...

Well, the oil price drop definitely hurt Russia.  Then, we have the sanctions. We also have the sharp drop in the Russia's Rubble currency. What's next? HIGHER PRICES FOR EVERYTHING! The Russians definitely are feeling the pinch now, as they are facing higher prices for everything. It's more expensive to buy eggs, dairy products, poultry and vegetables now. Apple halted the online store there, just three weeks after an increase in the price of an iPhone 6 for about 25% to 39,990 rubles...even then, the value of that iPhone sales when converted to dollar already has plummeted to about $585 from $847. The same thing goes to McDonald's. The company increase the price of Big Mac by 2.2% to about 94 rubles....only to see the value drop from $1.77 to $1.35 in the intervening days.  Renault-brand cars have been increased by 8% in Russia. Now, most Russians believe they have to snap up consumer goods before prices continue to go up. ...

There is a sense of relief as FBM KLCI rebound after closing lower for 4 days. It is more of a technical rebound, with the index closed at 1,681.900, increased by 7.96 points. The technical rebound come as there is sign of stabilization in price of commodities and ringgit. The rebound is welcomed with a sign of relief after the FBM KLCI Index dropped 35.68 points on Monday (15/12/2014) and another 23.27 points on Tuesday (16/12/2014). The rebound happened as analysts believe the market is in an oversold condition. On the other hand, the Asian markets were mixed with Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.38%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng retreated 0.37%, while South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.21%.  The current financial crisis in Russia, and the sharp decrease in the oil price has negatively impacted the market.

Today, we gonna go back to basics and talk about one of the most fundamental analysis that we look at in investment of a stock... EARNINGS PER SHARE (EPS) This is in fact one of the most carefully followed metrics in investing. Earnings per share generally means the portion of the company's profit that is allocated to each outstanding share of common stock. It is what investors look at to gauge the profitability of a company. EPS = net income - dividend to preferred shareholders                          average outstanding shares In practice, the weighted average number of shares is more accurate because the number of shares outstanding can change over time.  There is also the diluted EPS which takes into consideration of the shares of convertibles or warrants outstanding in the outstanding shares number. Here is an important note to EPS that we feel readers/invest...

While the bearish market continue in the market as oil price plunge continue, some analysts are starting to believe the bottom is near.  It is hard to predict where the bottom is but some forecasters believe the long tumble of crude oil is about to come to an end.  The average forecast in the latest survey believe that the crude oil to trade at US$64 a barrel at the end of December 2014. With the crude oil (brent) at US$61.85 per barrel now, some analyst believe the sharp drop is coming to an end. It is difficult to do a forecast but it is likely for us to see the oil price to trend at this level for the coming weeks. What say you? Did the analysts get it right this time?  

Expect the similar story these days if you are following the market. There isn't much indication of a rebound and with the oil price continue to go down, FBM KLCI continues to fall.  FBM KLCI drop by 11.58 pts to 1,732.990 Today, the market close at 1,732.99, falls by 11.58 pts. This is also the lowest close for the index in the last 6 months. Reports have emerged that the US crude futures continued to drop, after it has fallen below US$60 a barrel. This is the first time that it happened in 5 years.  Sapura Kencana Petroleum Malaysia is one of the top decliners. Other top decliners include Astro Malaysia Holdings Bhd, Petronas Gas Bhd, F&N Holdings Bhd, and Selangor Properties Bhd.  Malaysia Airline System Bhd (MAS) was the top active counter for the day on it's final trading day. Investors scrambled MAS shares, as today offered the last chance for buyers to own the shares, which will entitle them to the 27 sen a share privatisation offer by Khazana...

The FBM KLCI continued the downtrend this week to close at 1744.57. In comparison to last Friday (05 Dec 2014) , the FBM KLCI was at 1749.30. There is still a slight drop in the market as oil price continue to decline. Bursa Malaysia's top decliners are still the oil & gas related stocks like Petronas Dagangan Bhd and Petronas Gas Bhd. It is obvious that the market is taking cue from how the movement of oil price is at the moment. The market is still very volatile and it's difficult to foresee how the movement of the stock will go at the moment, but if the oil price were to continue in this decline, it's pretty obvious that's where the stock market will be heading as well. Across Bursa, there are 629 decliners with only 178 gainers. Expect the market to remain volatile in this coming few days

If you look at the last six months, you will see that the Ringgit (RM) has been the second worst performing currency in Asia, after the yen.  Ringgit (RM) crisis Two weeks ago, it breached the 3.4 level against the USD. On Dec 5th, it touched 3.4757 before closing at 3.4713. From the Ringgit's year high of 3.1463 recorded on August 27, the Ringgit has lost 10.3% of its value against the greenback. Last week alone there is a decline of 2.6%. While the yen's fall is due to the deliberate policy move by the Bank of Japan to devalue its currency, the ringgit is a victim of a convergence of several factors on both the external and domestic fronts.  The big question mark that remains: is the currency weakness a reflection of Malaysia's economic's fundamentals or is it a cyclical and temporary weakness? If you trust the analysts, then Ringgit is expected to continue the downtrend into next year.  Factors that drive the Ringgit down Drop in ...

In life, a lot of us are aiming for more wealth, so that we can live a better and more comfortable life, as we work towards our retirement age. But there was a report, launched on Tuesday, that was commissioned by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP):  revealed that 90% and 86% of rural and urban households, respectively, had no savings, while the majority of households at 88% had zero earnings from their savings. And because of this, we feel it's important to  talk more about RETIREMENT in our upcoming posts, because we believe that's the goal at the end of the day. RETIREMENT: What's your game plan? Generally, financial planners look at life in 2 phase: The 2 phases in Life In short, the game plan is simple: 1) ACCUMULATE 2) DISTRIBUTE It is interesting that while the game plan is simple, it is rarely practical in REAL LIFE, unless of course, if you come from a rather wealthy family to start with. Being someone who studied Statisti...

It has been a rather frustrating week for Bursa Malaysia...the negative sentiments of the lower oil prices, weaker Ringgit has been very bad for FBM KLCI.  But there was some improvement today as the stock market close at 1749.37 points (+3.68 points/0.21% higher). It was a great relief as the benchmark open with a slight drop. The rebound is most likely due to the oversold in previous days.  Of course, many are still wary of the market and predict that the downtrend might continue with the oil price continued to be under pressure. It is also important to take note of the weaker ringgit against the USD, at 3.4698. On the other hand, most of the Asian counters rose slightly. China’s Shanghai Composite gained 1.32% while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index advanced 0.71%. Here are the top gainers and top losers: Top Gainers Top Losers

It has been a bad start to December for Malaysia stock market.  And this trend is seen to be continued as FBM KLCI dropped by 27.82 points to close at 1758.150. This is largely due to foreign selling amid concerns over the weakening Ringgit. FBM KLCI close at 1758.150 The Malaysian Ringgit's weakness is seen as the main concern for foreign investors. The Ringgit weakened to 3.4435 against the US Dollar.  Bursa Malaysia saw 692 decliners and only 179 gainers while 247 counters remain unchanged. Dutch Lady Milk Industries Bhd, Petronas Dagangan Bhd and Huat Lai Resources Bhd are the top gainers while the top decliners were BAT, PPB Group Bhd and BLD Plantation Bhd. (source from The Edge Markets) The drop in the market is largely due to the concerns over the weakening Ringgit and the impact of lower crude oil prices . It is going to be difficult to gauge the bottom of the crude oil price but if this continue, Malaysia will definitely see a bearish...

It may be difficult to believe but as mentioned in my previous post, this is a new era for oil . And the next question to ask is how low can oil prices go?  Well, if the analysts were correct, the oil can still go lower...and it might fall a lot more. OPEC's decision not to cut production was obvious: to put and cause pain to US shale drillers, but it's providing holiday gift for consumers.  OPEC members Thursday followed the lead of Saudi Arabia, which has said it did not want to cut production and has made it clear it will defend its market share against other producers. Those producers include the U.S. shale industry, which has helped boost U.S. production by a million barrels a day in just a year. OPEC member Venezuela sees the world oversupplied by 2 million barrels a day. And if the US oil production were to continue to increase, the oil prices will definitely fall even lower. This is very likely to happen especially over the next three to fo...

It was difficult to imagine that the oil price will be at 70 per barrel 6 months ago but today, the oil price has plunged to $70.15 per barrel.  OPEC's decision not to cut production is indirectly a declaration of price war in the crude market and the challenge to US shale drillers.  Here is a look at why the sharp drop in the oil price. First, US production has nearly doubled in recent years to 9 million barrels a day and analysts expect the production to rise by more than 1 million next year. And like all commodities and trades, an oversupply will drive the prices down. With this supply, Saudi Arabia and OPEC have essentially surrender to the inevitability of the lower prices from the exploding improvement in the US energy production. As OPEC maintained their output target, the oil price plunged to a point where some of the shale projects may lose money. This is a new era, where the market itself will manage supply. Saudi Arabia and OPEC kne...

If you have been mixing with people who are into investment, you will probably heard some people talking about buying stocks with good fundamentals or good prospects etc. There are also others who are looking into the technical chart to try and predict the market movement.  Well, there is a way for you to answer some of the questions like: a) How is the company being run? b) Is it generating profits? c) Is there a growth in the performance? d) How does the company fare in comparison to the peers? That way is what some people called: Profitability ratios Profitability ratios measures the ability of a company to generate profits relative to sales, assets and equity. These ratios are useful to to measure a company's performance over the years and also in comparison to the peers.  Here are 5 ratios that I would love to share with you today: 1) Gross Profit Margin (GPM)   Gross Profit Margin (GPM) is calculated with the fo...

As mentioned in the morning post on the oil prices plunge , the FBM KLCI continue the downtrend. The downtrend continues   Most shares traded lower at the end of today, as the poor sentiments surrounding around the O&G counter spread to other sectors as well. OPEC's decision not to cut output to stem the falling crude oil prices crushes any hope of a quick rebound for the crude oil prices. In fact, it's hard to even try to predict the bottom of it at this point of time.  The FBM KLCI fell 0.5% today, to close the week at 1,820.89 points at market close. However on a week-on-week basis, the KLCI ended the week 11.76 points or 0.65% higher, compared to last Friday’s closing of 1,809.13 points.  The OPEC's decision might just force the downtrend to continue for a while....as Reuters reported that oil prices, oil-related shares and oil-linked currencies all tumbled in Asia on Friday.  The huge supply of oil could hurt country lik...

It's not a good news for the energy shares as they led losses after oil prices plunged.  Not looking good for oil After OPEC decides against the cut, Brent crude oil plunged as much as $6.50 a barrel on Thursday, and U.S. crude fell by nearly as much, posting the steepest one-day falls since 2011. Benchmark Brent futures settled at $72.58 a barrel, down $5.17, after hitting a four-year low of $71.25 earlier in the session. The contract was on track for its biggest monthly fall since 2008. U.S. crude was last down $4.64 at $69.05 a barrel.  This is definitely not a good news for oil producing countries like Russia and even Malaysia. PRICE WAR? It is going to be a price war. The US crude may even slide to below $65 a barrel in coming weeks and this could be a factor against the economy of the Northern American shale oil production.  While many were saying the oil price may have hit a bottom, some analysts have a differing point ...