MONEY MASTER

2016 bad start continues and it's no longer a question of whether it's a bear market or not. It's a question of how bad will this bear market looks like. According to Bloomberg report, the global equity bear market was poised to deepen in Asian trading, with index futures foreshadowing losses from Hong Kong to Japan amid soaring demand for haven investments. IT'S A RED MARKET EVERYWHERE Here's a quick look at how the rest of the world is performing. The yearlong decline in global equities that started with a selloff in energy became a full-blown bear market Thursday as a rout in bank shares extended losses in the broadest worldwide gauge past 20 percent. The MSCI All-Country World Index slipped 1.3 percent, pushing its decline since May to 20 percent and marking the biggest retreat from risk since Europe’s sovereign debt crisis in 2011. Every industry has fallen since last year’s record high with decreases exceeding 25 percent in financial stocks and 3...

The FBM KLCI index started the day with a plunge to a low of 1,638.88 before rebounding to close marginally lower at 1,643.95, down 0.46 points from a day earlier. This was largely due to the concern of a global economic meltdown with regional markets continued to head south. FBM KLCI closed marginally lower The first trading day of the Lunar Year doesn't go so well for Hong Kong market as it led the fall in the regional markets today. Hang Seng Index plunged 3.85% to 18,545.80 points as the sentiment was badly hit by the violent street protest in the special administrative region on the second day of Chinese New Year. The growing concerns on the US interest rate policy's direction and the health of global financial institutions also contributes to the negative sentiments and feeling around the equity market. Overnight, the US Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen spoke about risks to the economic outlook that could delay the central bank’s plans for raising rates.  M...

The benchmark KLCI FBM index lost 19.88 points or 1.2% to close at 1,633.3. FBM KLCI downtrend continued as oil stumbles Last week, the market had a short rally after the announcement made by Prime Minister Najib on the recalibrated Budget 2016 but at this level, the KLCI is on a lower level than after the rally. The decline in the index is in line with the world market, as oil price's decline worsen after hopes for oil-producing nations to reach an agreement for cutting production seem to falter. It appears that the bear market is here to stay. Most Asian markets tumbled today as oil prices dropped for a third day. Japan's Nikkei 225 lost 3.15%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell by 2.36%, China's Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.38%, Australia's S&P/ASX200 dropped by 2.33%, and South Korea's Kospi Index shed 0.84%.  Singapore's Straits Times Index also fell by 1.1%.   Shell Refining Co (Federation of Malaya) Bhd was the biggest decl...

2016 didn't start off brightly, especially in the global stock market, with China's slowdown seems to be worse than expected and the oil supply glut has yet to improve. The China's circuit mechanism in trying to control the volatility of the market has failed and make things worse....so, the big question now: just where the market is heading? It is common for us to have different views on the market outlook but here are the summaries that we collect from some of the "experts" in the industry. MAYBANK IB Maybank Investment Bank (IB) expects the current volatility in the stock market to continue, especially in the first quarter of 2016. Maybank IB Regional Chartist & Economics Lee Cheng Hooi was reported by Bernama as saying the factors impacting the stock market would be largely externally induced by headwinds revolving around US monetary policy normalisation, China's structural slowdown and emerging market impact. Meanwhile, for the first half...

We're just into the second week of 2016 and it already felt like a Bear Market.  Not even the pessimist on Wall Street thought things would go wrong so quickly in 2016.  BEAR MARKET in 2016? Dow Jones Industrial Average sank 391 points on Friday, China is struggling to prop up its slowing economy and calm its volatile stock market, and oil price is below $30 a barrel in 12 years.... The selling has been intense, and European stocks officially entered bear market territory on Friday when the Stoxx Europe 600 Index closed down 20 percent from its record high in April. Now global equities have lost more than $14 trillion, or 20 percent, since June. The pace of the drop has been so fast it’s unraveled about half of the rally since a low in 2011. Investors have fled into the U.S. Treasury market, and pushed the yield on the 10-year note below 2 percent for the first time in months.