‘Era of Uncertainty’ May Be Drawing to a Close

If economists, business executives and investors have been sure of one thing this year, it is that uncertainty — over economic policies, political leadership and central-bank actions — is largely to blame for the shambling global economic pace, spotty job growth and serial bouts of anxiety in financial markets.

 

But the bull market in "uncertainty" has likely peaked -- not that many have noticed amid the political noise and unsettled stock market, which is falling sharply Tuesday amid disappointing earnings and worries over Spain.

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Stocks Will Rise in Q4 if History Is Any Guide

An Easy Way to Earn Big Returns — Penny Stocks

You may have noticed a lot of buzz lately about Penny Stocks.

Penny stocks are the common stocks of smaller public companies that trade for less than a dollar per share. Like other stocks, they are regulated by the SEC, but instead of trading on the major markets like the NYSE, they trade on “over-the-counter” markets, which are very accessible to the public.

Today, penny stocks are offering smaller investors a great opportunity to earn significant up-side on their investments, with relatively little risk.

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Near Perfect Conditions Suggest 30% Rally for Stocks in Next 12 Months: Hays

DRB-Hicom raises sales target for Proton cars

KUALA LUMPUR: In a bid to establish Proton Holdings Bhd as the number one car maker in terms of sales this year, DRB-Hicom Bhd has raised the local sales target for the national car maker to 200,000 units for the current financial year ending March 31, 2013.

DRB-Hicom Managing Director, Datuk Seri Mohd Khamil Jamil said the conglomerate, which acquired Proton from Khazanah Nasional Bhd in January this year, believed that Proton has the ability to overtake the current leader, Perusahaan Otomobil Kedua Sdn Bhd (Perodua).

Mohd Khamil said prior to the takeover, Proton had an initial target of 167,000 units for the current fiscal year.

"From January to now, we have done about 100,000 cars. I am pretty sure about the target. Proton has a lot of unlocked potential.
"The main challenge to meet the target will be the revised lending guidelines by Bank Negara Malaysia. But we believe in the current models that we have," he told reporters after the company's Annual General Meeting, here today.

Mohd Khamil said DRB-Hicom aspires to establish Proton not only as an affordable car, but an international car.

"Nobody should buy Proton because it's cheap. The DNA of Proton must be changed. That is why we are raising the standards of the car. Proton aspires to increase quality while keeping cost down," he added.

He also said DRB-Hicom has in place several plans for the national car maker, which among all are to strengthen its domestic operations, rationalising its downstream and upstream businesses, building greater brand awareness, as well as unlocking its true value.

On Proton's loss-making sports car unit, Lotus, Mohd Khamil said DRB-Hicom has completed the operational review of the British sports car maker, and the conglomerate has laid out an immediate plans for Lotus.

"It will be far different from the plans that Lotus had before. The new plan will ensure Lotus will sustain for the next three years.

"We have to now present the plans to the bankers. We are hoping to finalise negotations with the bankers by the end of this year," he added.
-- BERNAMA

Read more: DRB-Hicom raises sales target for Proton cars

DRB-Hicom to sell 30% Bank Muamalat stake?

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s auto-to-insurance conglomerate DRB-Hicom plans to sell 30 percent of its 70 percent stake in partly state-owned Islamic lender Bank Muamalat Malaysia, a source with knowledge of the deal said on Thursday.

Malaysia’s central bank last month gave the country’s ninth-largest Islamic bank, AFFIN Holdings, permission to enter talks with DRB-Hicom, which has been told by the central bank to reduce its stake to a maximum of 40 percent.

DRB-Hicom bought its 70 percent stake in Bank Muamalat from Bukhary Capital in 2008. The government’s investment holding arm Khazanah Nasional owns the other 30 per cent.

“The matter is in Bank Negara’s (Malaysia’s central bank) hands now,” the source told Reuters, adding that a deal should be completed by the end of the year.
DRB-Hicom, controlled by billionaire Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary, had tried to reduce its stake in Bank Muamalat with a sale to Bank Islam Malaysia last year and previously to Bahrain-based Islamic lender Al Baraka Banking Group.

Should the deal go through, Affin would emerge as Malaysia’s fourth-largest Islamic lender by assets.

Read more: DRB-Hicom to sell 30% Bank Muamalat stake?

 

Don’t Fight the Fed: Market Has “More Gains Ahead

The Fed steps in, and stocks soar: Dow climbs 206

NEW YORK (AP) — The stock market staged a huge rally Thursday after investors got the aggressive economic help they wanted from the Federal Reserve.

 

The Dow Jones industrial average spiked more than 200 points and cleared 13,500 for the first time since the beginning of the Great Recession. The average is within 625 points of its all-time high.

The Fed said it would buy $40 billion of mortgage securities a month until the economy improves. It left open the possibilities of buying other assets and of buying long after the recovery picks up.
The central bank also extended its pledge of super-low short-term interest rates into 2015, and extended a program to drive down long-term rates.

It was the package known as QE3 — a third round of quantitative easing, in market-speak. And it was just what investors were hoping for.

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Good times ahead for SapuraKencana: HwangDBS

PETALING JAYA (Sept 11, 2012): SapuraKencana Petroleum Bhd, which will be busy tendering for jobs by Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) these few months, is set to secure new fabrication and marginal field contracts in the second half of this year, HwangDBS Vickers Research Sdn Bhd said.

"Contracts in the pipeline include the Pan Malaysia hook-up commissioning jobs worth RM10 billion and Petronas' inspection, repair and maintenance contract, which may be worth up to RM800 million, as well as fabrication projects at the Samarang, Dulang and Bokor platforms worth over RM3 billion," the research firm said in a report yesterday.

"(Additionally,) Petronas is expected to award two risk service contracts for the Tembikai and Cenang marginal fields near Block PM314 off the peninsula and the award of these contracts, possibly by the fourth quarter of 2012, could be a catalyst," said HwangDBS.

HwangDBS believes that SapuraKencana is a top contender to bag major contracts from Petronas as it is the only player in the country that offers the full spectrum of services across the oil and gas (O&G) value chain.

Read more "Good times ahead for SapuraKencana"

SapuraKencana JV secures US$45m contract

KUALA LUMPUR: SapuraKencana Petroleum Bhd's joint venture SapuraAcergy Sdn Bhd has secured a US$45mil (about RM140mil) contract to provide a vessel in the Gulf of Mexico.

It said on Monday SapuraAcergy Sdn Bhd was awarded a contract to provide a vessel Sapura 3000 to Construcciones Maritimas Mexicanas S.A. de C.V. SapuraAcergy is a JV between SapuraKencana and Subsea 7 S.A.

"The award comprises provision of Sapura 3000 to undertake heavy lifts in the Gulf of Mexico region. The charter commenced on Aug 18, 2012 for a duration of 125 days," it said.

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Dow Versus KLCI

Market Close Stocks End at Multi-Year Highs, Fueled by ECB

Stocks surged across the board to close at multi-year highs Thursday, propelled by a batch of upbeat economic reports and after ECB President Mario Draghi said the central bank agreed on a new bond-buying program.
 
The Dow logged its best close since December 2007, while the S&P 500 posted its best finish since January 2008.

The volatility index plunged more than 10 percent to close below 16.

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KLCI Sharply lower on panic selling

BURSA Malaysia closed sharply lower on pa-nic selling after Standard and Poor's said it may cut Malaysia's sovereign credit rating if the government did not deliver promised reforms to cut spending to reduce its fiscal deficits.


The FTSE Bursa Malaysia Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (FBM KLCI) lost 23.02 points to close at 1,617.99. It hovered between 1,613.16 and 1,635.95 throughout the day.


The downtrend was dragged by losses in heavyweights Axiata and CIMB which fell 20 sen each to RM6.02 and RM7.54 respectively.

Read more... Sharply lower on panic selling

SapuraKencana Petroleum TP2.97

SapuraKencana Petroleum - Petrobras's surprise policy u-turn floats this boat

Date: 05/09/2012

Source	:	CIMB
Stock	:	SKPETRO		Price Target	:	2.97	|	Price Call	:	BUY
				Last Price	:	2.35	|	Upside/Downside	:	+0.62 (26.38%)

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Hong Leong reiterates "buy" call on IHH

KUALA LUMPUR: Hong Leong Investment Bank (HLIB) has reiterated a "buy" rating on Asia's largest hospital chain operator, IHH Healthcare Bhd, with sum-of-parts derived target price of RM3.49.

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UPDATE 1-Malaysia IHH Q2 profit soars on one-off gains, revenue jump

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 28 (Reuters) - Malaysia's IHH Healthcare Bhd, the world's second-biggest listed healthcare provider by market value, posted a more than five-fold jump in second-quarter profit, mainly on consolidation of results from a Turkish hospital and gains from the sale of assets in Singapore.

The arm of Malaysia's state investor Khazanah Nasional Bhd is one of a small number of healthcare sector plays in the region, where rising incomes and an expanding middle class are boosting demand for better services.

IHH, which raised $2.1 billion in July in the world's third-biggest IPO so far this year, said net profit was 403.54 million ringgit ($130 million) in the three months ended June 30. Analysts generally don't provide quarterly profit estimates in Malaysia.

Revenue more than tripled to 2.70 billion ringgit from 815.97 million ringgit a year earlier, according to a stock exchange filing.

Net profit for the six months period ended June 30 rose nearly two-fold to 527.38 million ringgit, exceeding the 515.5 million ringgit full-year profit estimate of analysts tracked by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

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Systech ?

Wall Street Week Ahead: S&P to fly after wild ride to Wyoming

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The streak is over, but is the trend intact?

A six-week string of gains in the S&P 500 (^GSPC) ended on Friday amid shifting expectations for central bank stimulus. This week could bring clarity on that issue, and that could determine whether the recent rally that took the index to four-year highs will persist.

"The streak is broken, but the trend isn't, and I think the next major move on the S&P will push us up towards 1,450 or 1,500," said Mark Arbeter, chief technical strategist for Standard & Poor's in New York. "Small- and mid-cap stocks are near their all-time highs, and if they break those highs, I think that will prompt the market to really rip higher."

Still, the market could be in for a bumpy ride this week ahead of Friday's meeting of central bankers in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Investors are looking for clues on whether Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will announce a third round of quantitative easing.

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Stay Bullish Until 2 Signs Say Otherwise: Pro

On Tuesday, pros were watching the market melt up take stocks to four-year highs, with the S&P (^GSPC) now more than 3 percent higher in August alone.

Although the action seems bullish, "The drawback to this most recent strength is that although we have achieved new cyclical bull market highs, the action may have pushed a good number of stocks into overbought territory " says Dan Wantrobski, director at Janney Capital Markets in a Reuters interview.

If stocks are overbought, is the market at an inflection point?

Trader Josh Brown says not yet - but it could happen at the drop of a hat.

And on CNBC's Fast Money Halftime Report Brown reveals market 'tells' that he'll be watching.

"First there's small cap strength (^RUT). As long as that continues the light is green to own stocks," says Brown.

"The second is participation. Watch new highs versus new lows and watch advances vs. decliners. That's how you know when to walk away."

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How to Take Advantage of Stock Market Cycles

Affin makes its move

PETALING JAYA: Affin Holdings Bhd’s resolve to explore a possible acquisition of a stake in Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd seems to reflect an aspiration to become a bigger player, especially in the Islamic banking sector.

While news of Affin getting the authorities’ approval to start negotiations to potentially buy into Bank Muamalat had caught some analysts by surprise, there was no denying by market observers that a positive conclusion of the deal would up Affin’s game in the niche sector.

Kenanga Research, for one, which called the deal a potential synergistic acquisition, said in its report: “We believe Affin has identified Islamic banking as a growth area in which it wants to build its existing position in the medium to long term.”

“In our opinion, this is a good move and probably a natural progression, given that the acquisition of Bank Muamalat will be key to the group becoming a bigger player in Islamic banking,” the brokerage explained, pointing out that the potential acquisition would not only expand Affin’s existing branch network and asset and customer base, but it would also enable Affin to tap into Bank Muamalat’s existing business collaborations with DRB-Hicom Bhd, such as those in relation to Pos Malaysia Bhd and Proton Holdings Bhd.

Read more Affin makes its move
Read Affin Q2 net profit up on rise in income
Read Affin Financial Summary

Gravity-defying boom

SWEET SPOT: Malaysia’s economy helped by strong growth

KUALA LUMPUR: MALAYSIA has received the thumbs up from foreign analysts and media on how it manages the economy.

Analysts, both local and foreign were stunned on Wednesday following Bank Negara’s announcement that the country was growing at a much faster pace than anticipated.

The central bank backed this, when it announced a 5.4 per cent growth in economic activities between April and June, spurred by the investments in both private and public sector spending.

For the first half of the year, the economy clocked a 5.1 per cent growth.

The strong results, at a time when most economies in the world are suffering, immediately caught the eye of the foreign media.

In recent days, Malaysia’s economy has been described to be in a “sweet spot” helped by strong growth and a subdued inflation trajectory.

Read more: Gravity-defying boom - Top News - New Straits Times