MONEY MASTER

At this point, oil cycle is everything and the global market rallied after crude oil goes up as market focused on an upcoming meeting of major oil producers that investors hope could stabilize volatile petroleum markets. Crude oil futures rose more than 2% after Venezuela reaffirmed an oil producers meeting in mid-March that would include Saudi Arabia, Russia and Qatar. Prior to the announcement, oil was down as much as 3%. U.S. crude futures CLc1 settled up 92 cents, or 2.9 % , at $33.07 a barrel. Brent crude futures LCOc1 finished up 88 cents, or 2.6 % , at $35.29 a barrel, hitting a three-week high. The US market is also looking bullish as a robust data on durable goods orders indicated a recovery in the manufacturing sector The Dow Jones industrial average improved by 1.29% to 16,697.36, the S&P 500 added 21.93 points, or 1.14 % , to 1,951.73 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 39.60 points, or 0.87 % , to 4,582.21. European equity markets also showed some positivism aft...

Wall Street Update Thursday morning saw Wall Street opened slightly higher with data pointing towards a better US manufacturing activity. The market however sees the upside limited by drop in oil prices. The durable goods orders up by 4.9%, beating the estimated 2.5% as demand picked up across the board. On the other hand, crude prices drop further as global oversupply outweighed the strong U.S gasoline demand. The investment sentiment is also impacted as fear over the impact on financial sectors increased, with banks preparing for a wave of defaults from oil and gas companies. According to Reuters report, as at 9:37 a.m. ET (1437 GMT), the Dow Jones industrial average was up 70.06 points, or 0.42 percent, at 16,555.05. The S&P 500 .SPX was up 7.88 points, or 0.41 percent, at 1,937.68 and the Nasdaq Composite index .IXIC was up 13.41 points, or 0.3 percent, at 4,556.01. Eight of the 10 major S&P sectors were higher, led by a 0.57 percent rise in financials .SPSY. Ban...

It seems like the short rally is indeed short as we were greeted with another downward trend today. FBM KLCI falls by 6.01 points to 1,658.16 The FBM KLCI closed at 1,658.16 despite having a rather good start to the day when the market hit the intraday high at 1,672.56 before falling down, tracking the regional trend. Reuters reported that Asian shares slipped on Thursday as crude oil prices see-sawed and Chinese shares dived, rekindling anxiety about the impact of high market volatility on the global economy on the eve of a G20 meeting in Shanghai. Crude oil prices fell on Thursday as downward pressure from global overproduction and slowing economic growth outweighed strong gasoline demand and lower US crude output. Brent crude benchmark was trading at US$34.07 per barrel at 0804 GMT, down 34 US cents from its last close. On Bursa Malaysia, decliners were more than gainers by about half at 565 compared to gainers at 271. There were a total of 1.65 billion shares traded, ...

The US market saw a late-session rally yesterday to close higher, helped by an increase in oil prices that helped to reduce investors' fears on banks' vulnerability to the big chunk of debt of the energy companies and their ability to repay their debts. Wall Street Update   S & P energy sector saw a gain of 0.9%, trimming its loss in 2016 to 27% after US crude futures went up by about 1%.  Besides the S&P energy sector, there are 8 other major sectors in the index that saw a gain compared to the previous close. The three major indexes saw a gain towards the end of the day after a day at the negative territory. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.32% to end at 16,484.99 points and the S&P 500 gained 0.44 percent to 1,929.8. The Nasdaq Composite added 0.87 percent to 4,542.61. Crude prices near 2003 lows have hammered the earnings of U.S. energy companies, exacerbated fears of a slowing global economy and created turbulence on Wall Street that...

FBM KLCI fell 13.11 points Reuters reported that oil prices slid on Wednesday, extending the sharp falls from the previous session after top exporter Saudi Arabia ruled out production cuts and industry data showed a further build in US crude stockpiles. US crude futures were trading at US$31.25 per barrel at 0758 GMT, down 1.95% from their last settlement. International Brent futures were down around 1% at US$32.90 a barrel. Both dropped more than 5% in intra-day trading the previous day. The consequence of the fall in oil prices are obvious given what we have seen in the past few months...the market fall as well. FBM KLCI dropped by 0.8% or 13.11 points to close at 1,664.17.  Across Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 lost 0.85% while Hong Kong's Hang Seng shed 1.15%. Bursa Malaysia saw 1.53 billion shares valued at RM1.51 billion traded. Decliners beat gainers at 601 versus 229. The top gainers included Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd and PPB Group Bhd.  The leading decli...

Just this morning, Malaysians were greeted with a good news, the oil rally of 6% and it already feels like it’s gonna be a good day for the market. FBM KLCI closed marginally higher while Asian stocks dropped Well, it did, at least for a start but as at 5pm, FBM KLCI closed at 1,677.28 points on profit taking after reaching an intraday high at 1,685.88. In the Asia region, Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 0.37%, South Korea's Kospi dropped 0.11%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng down to 0.25%. The oil rally on Monday that had boosted global equity markets made a U-turn. US front-month West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were trading at US$32.72 per barrel at 0753 GMT, down 67 US cents from Monday's settlement. International benchmark Brent was also down 61 US cents at US$34.08 a barrel. On Monday, we have seen oil prices jumped to as much as 7% as there are speculations over the falling US shale output fed the notion that crude prices may be...

Has oil bottom? The oil price seems to have bottom after a 20-month collapse as the oil market shown some strength in its rally to go up as much as 6% on Monday. Speculation about the falling U.S shale output has been the main drive for the rally. Friday's U.S rig count data has been one of the reason for the market reaction as prices began the week with a rebound in Asian trade. The data points to a drop in the number of oil drilling rigs in operations to a December 2009 low after there have been nine consecutive weeks of cut. The statement by International Energy Agency, the world's oil consumer body in regards to U.S shale oil production to fall by 600,000 barrels per day this year and another 200,000 barrels per day in 2017 also helped the oil rally. U.S. crude futures settled up by $1.84, or 6 percent, at $31.48 a barrel, rallying above $32 at one point. Futures of Brent finished up $1.68, or 5 percent, at $34.69. HAS OIL BOTTOM? This is the difficult questio...

The rally in oil prices lifted Wall Street on Monday as energy stocks that have been crushed recently find strength. This includes stocks like Chevron and Schlumberger.   As what have been seen over the last few months, Wall Street has been dictated by the oil prices' trend, which have left the market down so far in 2016, although we are seeing a slight recovery last week. The recovery seems to continue as oil gains some strength. The US crude prices were up by more than 6% albeit still at around decades low. We are seeing strength in the market across the board, with all 10 major S&P sectors finishing higher. Besides oil, prices of industrial metals such as copper and zinc rose as concerns and worries over the potential shortages arise. The Dow Jones industrial average were up by 1.39% to close at 16,620.66 points while the S&P 500 jumped 1.45% to 1,945.5. The Nasdaq Composite gained 1.47% to 4,570.61. Recent turmoil in global markets and macroeconomic uncer...

FBM KLCI closed marginally lower Malaysians who are in the stock market must be fascinated with the stock market movement because of its volatility. The fluctuation of the market happened in a period of the financial reporting season in the country. The KLCI fell to 1,674.59 despite a rise in major Asian share markets. Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 0.9% while Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 0.93%. Across the Malaysian market, 1.62 billion shares worth RM1.64 billion changed hands. Bursa seen the market closed with 468 gainers versus 364 decliners. Export-driven stocks such as Top Glove Corp Bhd and PIE Industrial Bhd were among the top ten gainers.  The leading decliner was British American Tobacco (M) Bhd. The most-active stock was APFT Bhd. Asian share markets rose on Monday, extending last week's gains, as investors awaited a rush of February industry surveys to take the pulse of the global economy, while the sterling stumbled on concerns the UK might yet vote to leave...

THE FLIP-FLOP STORIES ON FOREIGN WORKERS This is becoming a habit as Malaysia's Deputy Prime Minister suddenly announced a suspension on the recruitment of migrant workers from all countries, including Bangladesh.  1.5 million Bangladeshi? As of now, hiring is freeze on all foreign workers Deputy Prime Minister, Ahmad Zahid was reportedly saying, "The government has made the decision to freeze the intake of all foreign workers, including those from Bangladesh. And we appeal to all employers to hire locals." The government's announcement was a rather strange one given that it was not long after the news that 1.5 million Bangladeshi workers would be recruited and brought into the country. The sudden change of plan is a strange one indeed but not something new. At best, the flip-flop is likely due to politicians bowing to public pressures. At worst, it shows that our policymakers did not know what they were doing.  Human Resource Minister Datuk Seri Richard R...

The more you look at the financial market and economy, the more uncertainties might surface. When we were coming into 2016, most people were talking about the possibilities of three to four interest rate hikes but just about 2 months down the road, the tone had changed with market participants changing their view to a possibility of the Fed raising the rate as once, if at all, in light of weak inflation and global volatility. But just one new data and we've got people getting up on their feet and watch for Federal Reserves for clues about the US central banks next move because apparently, there is a hot reading on inflation on Friday. Friday's data showed the core consumer price index (CPI), a measure of underlying U.S. inflation, rose in January by the most in nearly 4-1/2 years to a 2.2 percent annualized rate. It drew particular attention as the number was above the Fed's 2.0 percent target, though it is not the central bank's benchmark inflation measure. The up...

When the share price of a company is high or increasing, generally corporations, or more specifically their management teams, are happy about it and there is good reason for it....below are three of it that I've read about it befo re but I think all of it could be summed by 1 word: G REED GREED IS GOOD 1) T he price of a company's shares is often used as an indication of the overall strength and health of a company. If a company's share price has continued to climb over time, the company and its management are considered to be doing a good job. If everyone is happy and the company is doing well, as reflected by its share price, then management likely will see a raise and there is decreased risk that they will be fired. The management of a company is at a great risk of being removed from the company if they are unable to generate returns for investors. This is done by the Board of Directors, who are elected by the shareholders, and are responsible for the hiring an...

The volatility of the market continues as Wall Street closed lower on Thursday, snapping the 3-day rally this week as Wal-Mart fell and dragged on the market after a slowdown seen in their latest quarter earnings while oil prices pulled back as well. US market falls as Wal-Mart weighs while oil price also pulls back Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT.N) fell 3 percent after the world's largest retailer reported a lower quarterly profit and gave a tepid sales outlook. The stock was the biggest percentage loser in the Dow index. After the market closed, department store operator Nordstrom Inc (JWN.N) reported lower-than-expected quarterly profit and its shares sank 7 percent. The oil prices slide lower as well after rallying in recent days. The oil prices pulled back as the benchmark Brent settled lower after data showed a build in U.S. crude inventories. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 40.4 points, or 0.25 percent, to 16,413.43, the S&P 500 lost 8.99 points, or 0.47 pe...

The oil madness is causing haywire in the market. Just look at the headlines of the financial news, journals, blogs, or research reports and you'll see how volatile the market is because of the oil price. Here's a recap of some of the causes of the oil movement recently... 1) Oil price gain as news on Russia-Saudi meeting to discuss on oil production were released. The subsequent decision to lead a freeze production encouraged the oil rally. 2) Oil price dropped as concern over the participation of Iran. If Iran chose not to join in the production freeze, it'll not be sufficient to control the overwhelming supply of oil and thus the oil price's drop might continue. 3) Oil rally again once Iran made a remark on "supporting" the Russia-Saudi led production freeze even though the market was not sure the "support" equivalent to "action". 4) Oil eases again now that a U.S. government report showing a rise in crude stocks underlined...

Wall Street fell late on Thursday morning after a three-day rally. A slump in Wal-Mart weighed on consumer stocks and as oil prices retreated, sectors that drove the three-day rally gave up some gains. Crude oil prices, whose performance has been tightly tied to the stock market, dropped from session highs after a report showed U.S. crude stocks rose last week. Brent crude was flat. Wal-Mart (WMT.N) slumped 4.4 percent to $63.23 after the retailer reported a lower quarterly profit and gave a lackluster sales outlook.  The stock was the biggest drag on the Dow and also dragged down other consumer stocks. Reuters reported that limiting the losses were shares of IBM (IBM.N), which rose 5.7 percent to $133.35 after Morgan Stanley upgraded the stock to "overweight" and the company made another health-related acquisition. At 11:11 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones industrial average .DJI was down 35.44 points, or 0.22 percent, at 16,418.39. The S&P 500 .SPX was down 8.76 points, or 0.45...