Black September in Reverse as Potential Upside Expected

In a trend analysis in the online STAR, KM Lee provided a across the board report of the mood of global equities and what the coming week should look like. He headlined his article with bold-faced words,"Bulls Poised to Patch up the Gap".

Back home, Bursa Malaysia started out the week on a solid ground, with the FBM Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (FBM KLCI) rising 1.48 points to 1,439.26, boosted by strong overseas performance.

Overnight Wall Street gained 47.53 points to 10,462.77 the previous Friday, as investors’ worst fears about the US economy slipping back into recession waned after economic data, while still sluggish, has beaten consensus forecasts since September began.

Elsewhere, equities in the Asia-Pacific region soared between 0.9% to 1.9% on optimism that Chinese growth would underpin global recovery.

Riding on the bullish ambiance, blue chips, especially finance-related stocks attracted significant interest on foreign and institutional buying, thus propelling the key index to close at the day’s high of 1,456.96, up 19.18 points on Monday.

Then, the Dow extended the upward thrust, climbing an extra 81.36 points to 10,544.13, the highest in five weeks, on upbeat Chinese factory data and less onerous new bank rules while the black commodity surged 74 cents to US$77.19 per barrel amid bright prospects.

Most regional bourses joined the rally on sustained buying interest and given the positive setting from overseas, the big boys gained more confidence, snapping up the quality issues.

Second and lower liners were also actively traded, with more retail players turning aggressive after the recent healthy consolidation phase.

In brisk business, Bursa Malaysia scaled an additional 17.48 points to a 32-month high of 1,474.44 on Tuesday.

Sadly, after two days of handsome gains, as investors took the excuse of a slightly lower Dow and a minor retracement in crude oil prices overnight to lock in gains. The mixed performance in Asian stocks was another factor weighing on the local market.

However, the pullback was pretty shallow, as some accumulations in certain blue chips on weakness helped check the slide and keep the local bourse within a tight range in the negative zones throughout the day.
At the end of Wednesday’s session, the FBM KLCI only shed 1.49 points to 1,472.95.

After a holiday on Thursday, Bursa resumed trading yesterday where the overall sentiment took a change for the better, lifted by positive offshore tone.

Blue chips topped the winners list, navigating the key index to a new 32-month high of 1,479.59 in early business, but investors opted to sell into strength and consequently, the momentum fizzled out.

At the end of the day, the key index reversed early advances to close down 5.98 points to 1,466.97.

Statistics: On a weekly basis, the FBM KLCI advanced 29.19 points, or 2.0% to 1,466.97 yesterday, compared with 1,437.78 at the close on Sept 9.

Total turnover for the holiday-shortened week amounted to 3.576 billion units valued at RM7.462bil, against 2.442 billion shares worth RM4.493bil traded during the previous week.

Technical indicators:

The oscillator per cent K tripped below the oscillator per cent D of the daily slow-stochastic momentum index to trigger a short-term sell at the top yesterday, but it could not be confirmed for now, simply because they remained flirting above the 80% bullish line.

On the contrary, the daily moving average convergence/divergence (MACD) histogram continued to expand positively against the daily trigger line to stay bullish. It flashed a buy on Aug 17.

The past week saw the 14-day relative strength index hitting a high of 91 points on Tuesday before turning sideways to settle at around the 88 points level yesterday.

Separately, weekly measurements were promising, with the weekly slow-stochastic momentum index stretching at the bullish extended-move area and the weekly MACD ascending steadily in tandem with the weekly signal line.

Outlook:

The local bourse extended the upward momentum amid follow-through interest the past week, which witnessed the FBM KLCI hitting a fresh 32-month high of 1,479.59 during intra-day session yesterday.

The market has risen a quite a bit recently. Despite trading at such a high level, we continue to see encouraging and concrete buying momentum taking place. This may indicates that investors are more optimistic and confidence of the existing trend going forward.

For now, the bulls are still dominating the floor and they appear pretty sure on the right track to fill the 1,490-1,497 points gap that they left out in mid-January 2008, according to the chart developments.

From the technical point of view, the growing overbought position of the short-term indicators may entice jittery investors to book profit, thus leading the market to greater volatility in the immediate term.

If the bulls are able to patch up the 1,490-1,497 points gap, a re-test of the historical peak of 1,524.69, established on Jan 14, 2008 would be imminent.

Initial support is seen at 1,450-1,452 points, followed by the 14-day simple moving average (SMA) of 1,440 and the 21-day SMA of 1,425.

The next lower floor is resting at the 1,400-points mark.

Nicole Goes Back to Broadway

Oscar-winning actress Nicole Kidman is due to return to Broadway next year to star in a revival of the Tennessee Williams play “Sweet Bird of Youth,” a production spokesman said yesterday.

“It’s something that’s in the works (and) there’s an intent to move forward,” the spokesman said.

Kidman, 43, first appeared on Broadway — with mixed reviews — in 1998 in David Hare’s sexually explicit play “The Blue Room”, which included a brief nude scene.

The actress, who was raised in Australia, went on to win an Oscar for her role as writer Virginia Woolf in “The Hours” in 2002.

“Sweet Bird of Youth” was first staged on Broadway in 1959. This revival is due to be directed by David Cromer.

Will she have a better reception this time around as 'The Blue Room' only brought the blues.....?

Details of the KFC Warrants

These are free warrants issued to shareholders in conjunction with the recent share-split and bonus issue exercise. So if you have  100 shares ex the corporate exercise, you are entitled to 4 free warrants.

 
Let us now look into the details

Listing Date:    20/09/2010

Issue Date:    15/09/2010

Issue/ Ask Price: MYR 0.0000

Issue Size:   31,723,949

Maturity Date  : 14/09/2015
  
Exercise/ Conversion Period:    5 years
   
Exercise/Strike/Conversion Price: MYR 3.00

Exercise/ Conversion Ratio:

1 Warrant: 1 Ordinary Share of RM0.50 each

Mode of satisfaction of Exercise/ Conversion price   
:
    Cash

Settlement Type/ Convertible into   
:
    Physical (Shares)

Remarks :

The Warrants are issued to the entitled shareholders of KFC Holdings (Malaysia) Bhd (“KFCH”) on the basis of one (1) Warrant for every twenty-five (25) ordinary shares of RM0.50 each in KFCH (“KFCH Shares”) held after the subdivision of every existing one (1) ordinary share of RM1.00 each in KFCH into two (2) KFCH Shares in KFCH and bonus issue of 396,549,364 KFCH

Shares.

Each Warrant carries the entitlement to subscribe for one (1) new KFCH Share at the exercise price (as indicated above) and at any time during the exercise period (as indicated above)

(“Exercise Period”), subject to the adjustments in accordance with the provisions of the deed poll dated 8 September 2010, constituting the Warrants.

Any Warrants not exercised during the Exercise Period will thereafter lapse and cease to be valid for any purpose.

The  announcement was made to the Bursa on17 September 2010.

Malaysia: Least Favoured Investment Destination

Oh, this is truly sad.

To be shunned by the majority of the investors. What has happened to Malaysia that it has come to this?

 A Bank of America Merrill Lynch report has reported that Malaysia is now the “least favoured market” in Asia Pacific for investors after nearly doubling its underweight rating only last month.

The country slipped two spots — from 10th place to dead last — in the investment bank’s latest Fund Managers Survey, even as the Najib administration in the process of unveiling ambitious economic reforms meant to boost investor confidence.

This appears to be the latest indictment of Malaysia’s inability to compete with rival regional markets. In the past decade, the once roaring Asian Tiger has seen its dominant position as an investment destination in Southeast Asia crumble even as neighbouring countries push to the fore.

A survey last week by the World Economic Forum (WEF) of 139 nations showed that Malaysia had slipped two places in global competitiveness rankings to 26th in the past year, while Indonesia surged 10 places to 44th.

The government is nonetheless optimistic that reforms under Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s New Economic Model (NEM) — details of which will be revealed next month — will revitalise the economy and help Malaysia achieve developed nation status by 2020.

However, Najib’s economic transformation is hinged on the government’s ability to galvanise RM2.2 trillion in investments over the next 10 years — 92 per cent of which is to come from the private sector — and it remains to be seen if the prime minister can overcome investors’ muted response to his plans so far.

Najib also faces stiff opposition from Malay rights groups who feel such reforms threaten what they perceive to be Malay “special rights”, and seems unable to push them through without significant compromise.

Elsewhere in the region, China remained the favourite market by far despite an uncertain global outlook. A net 11 per cent of investors expect China’s economy to strengthen, up from -39 per cent in July, according to Merrill Lynch.

Indonesia, slightly underweight last month, jumped to second place on an overweight call, edging out Hong Kong in the process. New Zealand, Taiwan, South Korea and India remained neutral.

Emerging markets outperformed developed markets this year and remain the preferred destination for investors, although emerging market allocations have been trimmed due to growth uncertainty and risk aversion.

Brazil and Russia continue to be favourites, but appetite for Turkey has fallen in the past two months.

The consumer discretionary sector is still the most popular among emerging market investors, followed by industrials, telecoms and financials.

Defensive sectors like utilities, staples and healthcare remain least favoured but have reduced their underweight positions from last month.

2011- A Time to Reflect

Next year marks an important milestone in the history of this country, for it will be 500 years since the fall of the Malacca sultanate and the start of colonisation.

Yes, half a millennium ago. Five centuries. Quincentennial. Twenty- five score years. Whichever way we look at it, that turn of events should not pass unnoticed for some special and most significant reasons -- the lessons from history as they all say.

It was in 1511 that the thriving port city of Malacca fell to the Portuguese, forcing its ruler, Sultan Mahmud Shah, to flee to a neighbouring state and ending more than a century of the dominion of the mighty Malay sultanate which started with Malacca's founding by Parameswara around 1400.

The invasion also marked the start of Western colonial rule in the country, at that time referred to as the Malay states or Tanah Melayu.

Malacca and, better still, the whole of Malaysia, should officially commemorate the occasion -- not to celebrate defeat but rather to reflect and learn from the past over what had contributed to the total subjugation of a flourishing Malay empire.

In fact, there were many things in the lead-up to the invasion that sounded so eerily familiar with what's going on in Malay or Malaysian politics now.

What was most glaring about the Portuguese conquest in 1511 was that it came as a revenge attack that struck the soft underbelly of Malacca, at a time when the sultan's administration and his people were so vulnerable as they were split.

There were also reports that the Western force, despite being grossly outnumbered, were aided by turncoats and double-crossers from within the local fraternity.

According to history books, the Portuguese armada which attacked Malacca that year consisted of 18 ships and more than 1,000 men led by Alfonso de Albuquerque. Launched from Goa in India, they were out to revenge the attack on a Portuguese naval and trading party two years earlier led by Francisco de Almeida.

That earlier offensive on the foreigners was interestingly instigated by Gujerati and Chinese traders and others doing brisk business in Malacca at that time.

Almeida managed to escape to India in the aftermath, but some of his men were captured as prisoners in Malacca.


J. Kennedy in A History of Malaya said the Malaccans were already politically disunited by the time the second Portuguese wave came and one of the main factors was the split over the choice of Tun Mutahir as bendahara (equivalent to today's menteri besar or prime minister).

"For the Portuguese, it had not been an easy victory," Kennedy wrote. "In manpower, they were greatly outnumbered. The defenders of Malacca used a variety of weapons, from firearms to bows and arrows and poisoned darts.


"Yet, certain advantages lay on the Portuguese side. Their strategy was helped by a description of the Malacca site sent to Albuquerque earlier by one of the Portuguese prisoners through a friendly merchant (the turncoat)."

Kennedy added that many merchants in Malacca at that time just stood by, ready to support whoever that won as long as their properties were not taken away and their interests safeguarded. And this included the Chinese.

"Some merchants, especially the Chinese, had at that time positive grievances against the Malay administration," he wrote.

Sounds familiar? That's because there are traces of the same scheme of things being repeated in the present.

Five hundred years may have passed but the similarities and parallels emerging in situations in the country today is uncanny -- the political squabble over who has the power (the choice of bendahara), the split in the ranks of the common people, the low morale despite outnumbering the enemy and so on.

Then, there were the traitors and turncoats, the business people who were not patriotic at all but only interested in their own private businesses and the Chinese who had "grievances against the Malay administration".

History, as they say, has a funny way of repeating itself. But only if we allow it to. For this reason alone, the momentous 1511 should be remembered and the anniversary duly commemorated.

It is, after all, just about 100 days to 2011.

It is time to reflect.

Hair Management: Myths and Facts

Sheila Chandran wrote this in the online STAR today. I though it was interesting. So, I am pasting in here for our general knowledge.

THE question of the day is: to use or not to use hair conditioners? London-based hair expert Thomas Taw unravels some hair myths and sets the story straight.

Myth: Shampooing is enough to keep hair healthy.
Fact: That is not true. Shampoo only cleanses grime, dirt and oil. Conditioners help nourish hair ends, keeping it smooth and tangle-free.

M: Hair care involves caring for hair roots.
F: Not always. Hair ends need the most attention because it is older and nourishment usually doesn’t reach the tips.

M: Hair oil helps you maintain healthy and beautiful hair.
F: Oiling is great for scalp, but hair ends need special nourishment as it’s rougher. Oiling is not enough to de-tangle hair. Only a conditioner can do that.

M: Conditioners require a lot of time and effort to use.
F: With a good conditioner, you just need to leave it on for a minute or two before rinsing off. Minimal fuss, maximum benefits.

M: Conditioner is only for “troubled hair”.
F: Hair consists of dead proteins and can’t rejuvenate itself. The healthiest hair will eventually dry out if uncared for. Hair needs to be conditioned to prevent dryness and tangles.

M: Conditioners should be applied on the scalp.
F: Conditioners are meant to care for hair ends, not the scalp.

M: Conditioners make hair limp and greasy.
T: Excess oil in scalp causes limp and greasy hair. Conditioners nourish and keep hair strands tangle-free.

M: Conditioners cause dandruff.
F: This is not true. Dandruff is a complex problem and there are many factors that cause it, such as an unhealthy scalp. Dandruff is unrelated to the use of conditioners.

So, do you think you know more about hair management after reading this news-item?

Happy Malaysia Day!

It has been 47 years since Sabah,Sarawak,Singapore came together with Malaya to form Malaysia on 16 September 1963.

Singapore departed to become independent in 1965.

Since then, Malaysia Day was never officially recognised or celebrated.

The people of Sabah and Sarawak were denied their celebrative rights to celebrate their day of independence from the White Rajah. They had to kowtow to to wishes of their brothers in Peninsular Malaysia to celebrate Merdeka Day instead which falls on 31 August yearly.

The new political awareness of what these two states can do to Federal politics have made the powers to be at Putrajaya to provide political space in the country to celebrate Malaysia Day which is truly our day of independence as Malaysia.

Yes, better late than never!

Today we celebrate Hari Malaysia for the first time officially as a country. It is indeed a milestone in the nation's history.

Happy Malaysia Day, everyone!