Rice Sufficiency:Another Neverending Issue

Sure we are. There is the fertiliser subsidy and other indirect subsidies. A clear example of indirect subsidy is the minimum price the government agency in this case Bernas must pay the farmers.As to the problems in this industry, it is too numerous that most smart people have got out of the industry.

At one time, we were aiming for self-sufficiency in case there is a security need. However, as usual, the government agencies lost track of their target. so, a lot of padi land were converted into mixed development and residential housing. Rice bowls are now almost gone in many states as housing developers encroached  on the diminishing padi hectarage.

 Now we have a Deputy minister asking an 'if' question. As if it is an issue to deal with rocket science!

So he said that Malaysia may continue to import rice if the cost of expanding the “Rice Bowl” areas in the country is higher than the cost of importing the commodity. Isn't this obvious?

Currently, the country was importing 30 per cent of the rice needs and the government was studying from the various aspects whether imports would be continued or otherwise. Who is studying may I ask? Another committee? A few PTD officers without field experience  or some agricultural officers without policy experience?

“We are studying whether to produce 100 per cent of our rice consumption or to continue importing 30 per cent of the national consumption, " he waxed lyrical.

At the moment, he said, emphasis would be given to efforts at upgrading the areas under the Muda Agricultural Development Authority (MADA) to produce better quality rice. This has nothing to do with quantity, my good man!

“Under the 10th Malaysia Plan, the ministry is allocating RM140 million to upgrade the areas under MADA. It includes giving compensation to residents because the rivers and canals in the MADA area are located on their land,” he said.

But where if the beef, my good man?

Are Sellers Tired at Wall Street?

Wall Street, still wracked by the eurozone crisis, has a long holiday weekend to recover from a miserable May before facing a packed economic calendar capped by the monthly jobs data.

"There's been a spike of jitters, but sellers are a bit worn out," said Gregori Volokhine of Meeschaert New York.

The market "is stabilizing. Volatility remains high, but no longer at crisis levels," he said.

"The crisis of confidence in the market is over."

Over the past week, the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.56 percent, to 10,136.63 ponts.

By contrast, the tech-rich Nasdaq composite gained 1.26 percent at 2,257.04 and the Standard & Poor's 500 index, a broad measure of the general market, edged up 0.16 percent to 1,089.41.

In May, the Dow plunged 7.9 percent, its worst monthly performance since February 2009 and its worst May since 1940.

The week got off to a rocky start as investors continued to fret about the developing financial crisis in the eurozone after Greece's close call with collapse.

Attention focused on Spain, where the central bank rescued a regional savings bank, CajaSur.

The fiscal strains in the eurozone sparked concerns that they could morph into a global financial crisis like the one that the followed the 2008 bankruptcy of US investment bank Lehman Brothers.

A huge blow came Wednesday, when the Financial Times reported shortly before the market closed that China, the world's largest holder of foreign-exchange reserves, was reviewing its eurozone debt holdings.

The euro plunged below 1.22 dollars, near a four-year low, and the Dow closed below the psychologically sensitive 10,000-point threshold for the first time since early February.

China dismissed the report Thursday, easing eurozone fears and sending the Dow up 2.85 percent.

On Friday, Fitch cut its credit rating on Spain, sending the market plummeting before it fought back to close off intraday lows.

Despite the whipsaw action, "this week has been far more healthy than we have seen in the last three or four weeks," said Marc Pado at Cantor Fitzgerald.

"A big part of this decline was to unwind positions that were representing higher risk for portfolios," he said.

"When you bounce it's important that the right stuff bounces: technology, retail, financial, those are the drivers of the economy, and that's what started to happen."

After the May maelstrom, investors have a long weekend -- with markets closed Monday in observance of the Memorial Day holiday -- to catch their breath.

They face four days of key economic indicators, including construction spending on Tuesday, auto sales on Wednesday and factory orders the following day.

But key labor data Friday promise to stir the most interest as investors try to gauge the sustainability of the fledgling recovery from the worst recession since the 1930s.

Most analysts expect the Labor Department to report nonfarm payrolls rose 500,000 in May, after a gain of 290,000 in April.

The expected jump in job creation would be largely due to temporary government hiring for the 2010 Census, analysts said.

The unemployment rate was forecast to slip a notch, to 9.8 percent, from 9.9 percent.

"We've had slightly more mixed data recently, so the jobs figure will be the test to see the strength of this economic recovery," Volokhine said, adding "there's always a risk of bad news"

Kill or be Gored

So, it has come to pass. Kill animals wantonly and you will also pay the price.

This matador is paying.

Where Eagles Dare!

Utmost respect to this " Women of the Year"! Bravo!

Which one is the blonde?

See just how observant you are!

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She got the wrong leg up!

Stocks and Money: The Empire Strikes Back!

After being hammered and pummeled for weeks, the empire finally strikes back.

Asian stocks rallied for a third straight day on May 28 as China’s pledge to remain invested in Europe lifted sentiment though the euro surrendered some of its gains after rebounding from near four-year lows the previous day.

Higher yielding currencies like the Australian and New Zealand dollars surged on demand for riskier assets and the Japanese yen, which benefits from risk aversion, lost ground, boosting exporter shares in Tokyo.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei, rebounding from a six-month low yesterday, rose over 1.7 per cent to its highest this week while the recovery in commodities support a rally in the Australian stock market.

“The phase of sharp erosion in sentiment may now be behind us, though unstable stock moves will likely continue for a while,” said Tsuyoshi Segawa, an equity strategist at Mizuho Securities in Tokyo, adding seasonal position unwinding in May by hedge funds would add to the volatility.

The MSCI index of Asia Pacific stocks outside Japan rose 1.9 per cent adding to the previous day’s 2.2 per cent gains. It is on track for its biggest weekly percentage gain since early March.

The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) climbed 0.7 per cent as foreigners turned net buyers of stocks after a nine-session selling streak, which was the longest since March 2009.

The People’s Bank of China said yesterday a Financial Times report that Beijing's concerns about its euro-zone bond holdings due to the European debt crisis was groundless.

The report had driven the euro to a near four-year low against the dollar and near an 8½-year low against the yen, and soured risk appetite globally as investors worried that Europe’s debt woes would grow into a larger financial crisis.

Beijing’s denial fuelled a rally on Wall Street, with the benchmark S&P 500 rising  by the biggest percentage gain in nearly three weeks.

In Asia, energy and financial services sectors were the main outperformers while defensive sectors like utilities were laggards.

The euro initially got a major lift from short-covering following China’s denial, but slipped back as worries about Europe’s debt problems returned to haunt investors who sold into the single currency’s strength.

In Asian trade, the euro was down 0.6 per cent from late New York at US$1.2292 against the dollar and is down 0.5 per cent against the yen at 112.02 yen.

“In our view, uncertainty remains in Europe and the sources of worries could resurface,” said a note from Credit Agricole CIB.

“It could come from the negative economic impact of the fiscal adjustment or from the sometimes difficult coordination between the Eurozone’s members. There could also be market talks coming back about the issue of government debt restructuring.”

The improved market sentiment supported the Australian dollar and the New Zealand dollar, which held on to yesterday’s steep gains of 3.5 per cent and 3.1 per cent against the dollar, respectively.

Metals were steady to marginally higher with copper hitting a two-week high on the heels of the flight to riskier assets while the jump in oil prices was additionally helped by speculations about supply disruptions due to the Atlantic hurricane season.

On the whole, things should appear fair on the horizon, though there may be some choppy waters to prevent a smooth sail back to better times!

Adventa: The Rubber Glove Play

OSK Research has retained its "buy" recommendation on glove- maker Adventa Bhd (7191), after the company reported a first-quarter results that were within expectations.

The company's first-quarter net profit for the period ended January 31 almost tripled to RM9.35 million, from RM3.23 million a year ago, helped by additional capacity. Its revenue also grew by 12.5 per cent to RM76.64 million during the quarter.

Growth were mainly contributed by continuously strong demand for examination gloves.

The company also regained entry into the Latin American market and resumed exports to Brazil in November 2009.

"Going forward, we expect demand for its examination gloves to remain firm given Adventa's niche in surgical and dental gloves.

"(We) maintain a "buy" (call), with our target price maintained at RM5.37 based on a PER (price-earnings ratio) of 15 times 2011 financial year EPS (earnings per share)," said OSK.

"Our target price for Adventa is based on a PER valuation of 15 times financial year 2011 EPS. We like the company's market leadership in surgical gloves as well as niche in the dental glove segment," the research house added.

It is now RM3.07. Will it move up to its old trajectory?

Given the growing health industry world-wide, Adventa looks poised to take on a bigger market chunk with additional capacity in place.