Stocks Finish Higher; Dow Nears 14,000

Stocks closed higher on Tuesday as the Dow marched toward the 14,000 level and investors looked ahead to Wednesday's Federal Reserve policy announcement.
A gain in the energy sector following strong earnings from refiner Valero and big gains in the pharma sector after Pfizer's solid earnings report supported stocks.

.
.
.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 72.49 points, or 0.52 percent, to close at 13,954.42, lifted by big gains in Pfizer and Verizon. Hewlett-Packard lagged. The Dow has not closed above 14,000 since October 17, 2007.

The S&P 500 gained 7.66 points, or 0.51 percent, to finish at 1,507.84, while the Nasdaq shed 0.64 points, or 0.02 percent, to close at 3,153.66 as disappointing earnings weighed on tech stocks.

The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), widely considered the best gauge of fear in the market, traded near 13.
.
.
.
 

Read more...

SapuraKencana could garner RM3bil-RM5bil jobs annually

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia's largest oilfield service provider SapuraKencana Petroleum Bhd is expected to garner about RM3bil to RM5bil worth of contracts annually, said industry analysts.

Currently, it has a sizeable RM18bil in its order book, with some 35% in Malaysia while Brazil and the Gulf of Mexico its second largest markets contribute about 24%. About 65% of SapuraKencana's jobs are for full engineering, procurement, construction, installation and commissioning works.

Moving forward in Malaysia alone, there were some RM300bil worth of jobs up for grabs, and SapuraKencana was likely to bid for most of the jobs, the analysts said.

Read more...

The Great Rotation: a flight to equities in 2013

By Mike Dolan
LONDON (Reuters) - One of the big investment shifts of our day may be at hand - regardless of how global markets actually perform this year.

What's already known as the "The Great Rotation" - a tilting of pension and insurance funds' strategic, long-term asset preference back toward equity from extreme positioning in bonds - has been one of themes of the new year so far.

The gist of the argument is that investor holdings of now expensive, ultra-low yielding government debt - following a virtually unbroken 20-year bull market in bonds - are ripe for rebalancing. The attraction of relative and absolute valuations in equity will coax the outflow to stocks.
It's this juncture that has some of the most persistent global equity bears of the past two decades, such as Societe Generale strategist Albert Edwards, rethinking the big picture.

While there's little thaw evident in his view of an investment 'Ice Age' over the next couple of years, Edwards now reckons that over 10 years long-term institutional funds are in danger of missing "the cheapest equity prices in a generation."

Read more...

StarBiz presents five stock picks

With the sudden market selldown, some counters have been beaten down to attractive levels. StarBiz presents five stock picks, compiled by YVONNE TAN.
.
.
.

DIGI.COM BHD

THE best reason to look at this stock, probably, is that technically, it is in oversold territory. The stock has lost 4.47% since Monday.

Its outlook for this year includes expectations that revenue would grow by 5% to 7%, while margins for earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation are expected to remain stable.

Telco counters are also known for their generous dividend yields.

Based on its third-quarter numbers, DiGi's dividend yield is running at 4.5%, or 23.8 sen net per share. Its growth story remains intact, according to analysts.

As at the third quarter of 2012, DiGi's revenue market share expanded to 28%, up from 27.5% from end- 2011, largely driven by its above peer average net adds over the past two years, which was also accompanied

by a fairly stable, if not higher, average revenue per user or ARPU, said Affin Research.

It believes that its month-onmonth growth momentum will persist as it consolidates its market share in the youth and Malay ethnic group segments, two key growth areas.

With its revenue and growth trajectory intact, the research house is forecasting core dividend per share (DPS) to improve in the current financial year (FY13).

Although its FY13 DPS assumption is based on a 100% dividend payout, it suspects there is potential for upside to its DPS forecast of 22.6 sen for FY13.

Read more...

'Market overreaction presents opportunities'

The local stock market overreaction over the upcoming 13th General Election (GE13) would present buying opportunities
for investors, says MIDF Research.

Yesterday, the FBM KLCI reacted negatively to market talk that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak may soon seek consent from the Yang di-Pertuan Agong for the dissolution of Parliament as early as this week.

If it turns out to be true, the GE13 will most probably be held by March 2013, MIDF said.

However, it said, investors may have overemphasised on the election consequence as the research house views the likeliest of results is that the status quo would remain.

"Hence, this presents an opportunity to investors with risk tolerance and who share a similar view," it said in a research note today.

Read more: Read more...

Malaysian stocks set for worst drop in 16 months on election jitters

KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 21, 2013): Malaysia's benchmark stock index fell more than 2% on Monday and appeared headed for its worst single-day drop in more than 16 months as worries over the country's upcoming election sparked selling across the board.

The FBI KLCI was down as much as 2.3% at 1,638.27 points by early afternoon, its biggest one-session loss since falling 2.5% on Sept 26, 2011, and bucking slight gains in other Southeast Asian stock markets.

A steady drip of headlines in local media about the election and speculation of a poll date late in March is fuelling the selling, said Kaladher Govindan, head of research at TA Securities, a local brokerage. The election must be called by the end of April.

Read more...

DiGi eyes 30pc growth in online store shopping

DIGI.COM Bhd, the third largest mobile operator in the country, aims to grow its online business by 30 per cent this year, mainly driven by the increasing trend of online shopping among consumers.

Its online store, DiGi Store Online, allows customers to buy new mobile devices for their existing plans, sign up to a new plan and reload prepaid airtime, among others.

The portal also allows non-DiGi customers to buy devices by signing up to a plan - via a new DiGi number or porting from their existing number.

Products purchased online will be delivered to buyers within three working days and can be paid for via installment plans.

Read more: DiGi eyes 30pc growth in online store shopping http://www.btimes.com.my/Current_News/BTIMES/articles/digion/Article/#ixzz2IAtEZoqQ

RHB Research maintains Overweight on telco sector

KUALA LUMPUR: RHB Research Institute is maintaining its Overweight outlook on the telecommunications sector with Time dotCom as its top pick.

It said on Friday while valuations are not cheap, it expects monetary policy to remain accommodative and supportive of the country's economic growth amid ample liquidity.

“Therefore, investors may continue to seek out telecom stocks offering generous dividend yields,” it said.

.
.
.

“Among the telcos, only DiGi has offered guidance for 2013 and management expects revenue to grow by 5%-7%. Apart from Time dotCom, we believe DiGi offers the strongest revenue and earnings growth prospects in 2013 based on our forecast of 8% and 9% respectively,” said RHB Research.

Read more...

More growth seen in DiGi this year

Affin Research
Buy (maintained)
Target price: RM6.04

ALTHOUGH DiGi's stock price has appreciated 38.6% year-to-date, DiGi remains a key pick for the telco sector moving into 2013.

Our buy rating is premised on DiGi's continued growth story and strong capital management initiatives.

Both factors, in our view, are likely to drive stock price towards our discounted cash flow target price of RM6.04 (based on a weighted-average cost of capital of 6.3% and growth of 1%).

Read more...

Norway's Telenor awaiting details of liberalisation before raising stake in DiGi

PETALING JAYA: Norwegian Telenor ASA is not opposed to further increasing its stake in DiGi.Com Bhd but will decide on the exact percentage once the Malaysian Government issues more details on the plan to further liberalise the local telecoms sector to allow foreign equity ownership to go up to 70%.

The current ceiling for foreign equity ownership is 49% and that is how much Telenor has in DiGi. read more...

My TP is getting higher!!!!