They Love Nominal Face Value

Many know about inflation but do not know what to do about it. Some know about inflation but are risk averse. Some are happily contented to forget about inflation as they have fallen in love with nominal face value. Which category do you fall into?

If you are from the first category, you must now learn how to get around it. Everyday, be it the wet market, be it the supermarket or at the hawker's stall- you see the prices of things going up. There is no falling back. Your ringgit shrinks at an incredibly fast pace. What it could buy 5 years ago for RM1, today you have to pay at least 50 sen more. Therefore your ringgit has shrunk by half. However, you continue to put your money in fixed deposits. Do you think that is a wise move?

So what options are open to you? By all means, put some money in the FD. A portion-you should look seriously to invest in feeder funds or good local mutual funds and REITS. Funds managed by ING, Prudential and Public Bank have proven track records. The balance - keep it aside to buy into some good Bursa KL counters. Look at such counters as Dutch Lady, Bursa, Maybank, Berjaya Sports-Toto, Tanjong Plc, Public Bank, CIMB Bank and Pos Holdings. When there is a fall or a serious dip, move in.

For the second category, there is no advice for you. Enjoy the sanctuary and refuge of the bank as they rob you blind.

The third category. Ignorance is bliss. Enjoy life.

Quote of the Day:

Heartsong

Shuqi- Belle of the Orient

Say what you want. To me, Shuqi is delectable, sweet, adorable and cuddly. She was truly fascinating in So Close and you can observe you up close and personal in the Hong-Kong version of the Playboy magazine.

I am very sure with a good script and in the hands of a good director, Shuqi can act. She has screen presence just like Aishwarya Rai. I believe Hollywood will soon be wooing her just like they did Gong Li, Zhang Zhiyi and Michelle Yeoh.

Heartsong

Life's Interruptions

We are subjected to interruptions in our lives. There are career interruptions. There are holiday interruptions and what have you.

A death of a loved one is always an interruption. We have to readjust our lives to the new situation. The loss of a life partner can indeed be painful and the time needed to get over it is often long and arduous.

Interruptions in studies when one change course in mid-stream or failed in our examinations is another thing to reckon with. There will certainly be costs involved.

Career interruptions is equally painful when you are bypassed by nepotism and you have to leave the organisation to seek your fortune elsewhere.

Whatever the interruptions, be resolute and pray to God and all things will come into place if only you believe and trust in Him.

Second Board - Just Waiting for Godot

So the KLSE is up, breaking all time records. Fantastic volume and value. Blue chips being chased up to the steeple of their net worth. Second liners moving albeit, less animated.

But what about the Second board? Once the playground of punters way back in 1991 and in1997, today it is as silent as a cemetery. Only a few counters are trading the ringgit category. the rest are all puny stocks. There is just no interest to hold them. Poor shareholders are burnt beyond belief. They know they have been made the ' laughing stocks' for the last decade or so.

So, what do you see the chances of the Second Board counters moving like their counterparts on the Main Board? Unlikely?

I hope they see some action soon, now that most of the shares on the Main Board are highly priced.

Or are they all waiting for Godot?

Verb-Tense Agreement

Talk with some one on English grammar. How do you think they will respond? Phobia galore that's what they will exhibit. They say there are just too many rules and it is difficult for a non-native speaker to remember when speaking or writing English.

What do you think?

I think English rules are learnable. Yes, there may be confusion of singulars and plurals; on irregular verbs and idioms and phrasal verbs. Most people however fumble with verb-tense agreement or concordance.

To me, it is very simple.

There are singular subjects and singular verbs. Subjects such as I and you will take singular verbs. For example: I walk. You walk. For subjects like he, she and it, the verbs will always be an action word with an 's' added to it. Therefore: he walks; she walks; it walks.

Plural subjects will have plural verbs. Therefore: We walk;they walk. There is no 's' added to such action words.

In the 'to be' category; it is always: I am and You are. The past tense will be: I was, he was, she was and it was . Take note: You always take the plural both in present and in the past tense. Thus, you are and you were.

Heartsong

Pretty Women

We have all set eyes on pretty women. They may not be the paramours of the silver screen or dolled up vixens in bridal make-up. But as men, they certainly appeal to us and captivate our hearts.

And how it sadden us when we see them being pursued by pretenders and 'wolves' in their fancy sports cars. But who are we to complain when we lack all these to be able to attract these creatures of comfort? The world is such. Only the lucky few that are endowed with mucho dinero can tackle these sensuous sirens. Like the flowers that bloom in spring, they must be plucked during spring-time. Comes summer, they will be side-lined. Next spring will see another carpet of lovely flowers and the flowers of yesterday will all be but forgotten.

So do not blame these beautiful girls for falling head over heels with "wolves" and pretenders in their spring-time of life. Nature makes them such. Only experience will tell them that the 'wolves' are after only one thing. Like bees they will be after new flowers when spring comes along once more.

Will they never learn, these pretty girls?

Dutch Courage Bursa ?

I am really surprised at the guts shown by fund managers and their derring-do pushing the market. Obviously there are gamblers in the market and they are there for trading gains. Will this market sustain or will it go into a tail spin when some bad news overwhelms the world markets?

There is a saying. When the fishmonger, butcher and the taxi driver starts talking about shares; you better watch out. This is the clearest sign that the market is going to turn turtle.

RCE Juggernaut?

Looks like RCE is on a big move today, amassing volume and strength. It went up almost 5 sen but settled down for a 2 1/2 sen gain when trading ends.Do you think these buys are short term investment buys or speculative buy?

If it is short-term investment buys, then the counter may go up steadily. If it is mere speculative buy, then when T+3 arrives, expect 'lorry loads' of delivery and for the price to go down the next few days.

Buying of RCE continues to be strong today (24 April 2007). Let us see when selling pressure will start?

Happy trading on RCE.

Sanjaya-The Life of American Idol 6

So Sanjaya was sent home last Friday. American Idol has now lost most of its fun element. We love his joyous presentation almost every week. He was quick to smile and was an entertainer extraordinaire in the making. How we enjoyed his rendition of Besame Mucho and his differing hairstyles each week.

We knew he 'would be going' sometime as the time draws nearer. He is no great vocalist,I grant you. We certainly would not expect him to win American Idol. We knew he would be crying tears of defeat. It would have to be sooner or later.

As we say goodbye to Sanjaya, let us see who is likely to quit the scene this week. Will it be Phil or Chris?

Quote of the Week:

"Advice is like snow -- the softer it falls, the longer it dwells upon, and the deeper in sinks into the mind." Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Heartsong

Fast food Fight

Lately,there have been so many promotions between the fast foot outlets. Chiefly, we have the straight fight between McDonalds' and BurgerKing. Also, Pizza Hut has gone into the act as well as Delifrance.

Looking at the offer, the best is still from McDonalds this April which is their 25th Anniversary. You get a free meal item for every purchase above RM3.00.

Killing time

Killing Time

What do you do when you have 90 minutes to killed every week?

I used to have this problem when my son was taking Mandarin tuition in Taman Tun Dr. Ismail. It was on Saturday afternoons just after lunch.

We would bring him for lunch first at Restaurant OK where they served the best curry mee and char keuy teow this side of KL. Then off we whiskd him to his place of study.

Initially, we did not know what to do with the 90 minutes. We would literally walk around TTDI aimlessly, spend sometime in a mamak shop and do some by-the -way shopping at the neighbourhood supermarket.

With time, we knew we could go over to One-Utama by parking on the other side of the shopping complex. We did just that and we soon were shopping at the Jaya Jusco and Giant Supermarkets buying our week's marketing requirements.

Now we are once more saddled with time to kill. Our daughter is taking up Mandarin tuition in Aman Suria. We do not have the pleasure of a supermarket nearby. We only have a 2 mamak shops and a Watsons.

It is really difficult to kill time and so I have to order a teh tarik and read until its time to fetch my daughter.

Heartsong

At a Cyber Cafe

It is interesting the first time you go to a cyber cafe. You pay the RM2 and then you do what you want to do.

First you have to get used to their desktop. As there was no Mozilla Firefox, I just typed in the web-page and went to see the stock pages as well as visit my blogs. I did some correction.

When your time runs out, a small meter on the desk-top will give you the count-down to zero and then you vamoose!

Another Mirage?

Bursa went up this morning as if nothing serious is happening in China. So the impending interest rate rise in China which will make funds more costly to dabble in the stock markets seems to affect only China?

Talk about contagion effect. It looks like the market will believe what it believes. Until the news of the interest actually materialised, I think the markets elsewhere would operate as if they are closed economies; which is not the case. So what gives?

I believe this morning upward bias is because shares have become cheaper and some fund managers have money in the kitty to buy in. Speculators may be more cautious as yesterday was quite a jolting experience!

We would have to wait until the witching hour to see whether the market has found its legs and is ready to climb somemore. Gentings, KPS and RCE look good this morning. hope they can sustain in to the afternoon.Quote o f the Day:"Don't Talk unless you can improve the silence." Unknown. Heartsong

Predicting the Market

As I look at the Malaysian stock market, I am very suspicious especially of the recent run-up. Breaking the 1,314 psychological level set in 1994 has been an obsession. It has been breached. Today market went down 18 points in early morning trade. So what next?

For those who bought into Gentings and Resorts, the best thing to do is not to look at their on-going prices but to lock up the stocks. Look if you still want to bargain buy at lower prices.

As for KPS,it looks like there is something afoot given the heavy buying pressure yesterday. Unfortunately it was only a momentary bubble which fizzled out. It is now going down the tube. The last time I looked it was RM1.37.

Observing the market is no fun.

Quote of the Day:

" We can only do no great things; only small things with love." Mother Theresa

Heartsong

Sexy Malaysians

Durex International's worldwide survey of the the length of love-making shows Malaysians are not bad after all. We have been given third placing. Malaysia Boleh!

I do not know what the Nigerians do during love-making but Durex have placed them chamber champions.

Quote of the Day:

"The values we live by are woth more when we pass them on." Mahatma Gandhi

Heartsong

The Joy of Being Young

Every time you see young people around, you wished secretly that you are in your teens. They seemed so blessed. Life can be fun. They have friends to hang out with. They carry the latest hand-phone and they drink coffee lattee at Coffee Bean or

Rolling War Wagon KPS

It has been a long time I have blogged on KPS. Ever since I chanced upon the underlying value of this counter way back in November 2006, I have been observing its price movement and volume keenly. And it has performed true to form. It has broken out from its Rip Van Winkle state and have rocketted upwards from 38 1/2 sen to above RM1.50 in a short period of 5 months.

There are many rumours in the market. The main ones are the Water Transfer project from Pahang and the Western Tolled Highway. Then there is the bonus possibility of Perak siphoning water as well to Selangor. The last rumour to hit the market is the possible takeover of Puncak Niaga by KPS. All these are good for KPS shareholders.

So what remains in the horizon is for the rumours to come true. The Water Transfer project is a matter of time. The earlier agreement between Kumpulan Darul Ehsan Holdings and KPS will most possibly be nullified now that water is both a state and federal matter following constitutional amendments which was passed. So KPS may be negated a bit here since it is no longer the honcho for the waterworks project per se. Any how, all is not lost.

The corporate takeover of Puncak Niaga is interesting. How is KPS going to fund this purchase? Not through a 100% loan as it would impact upon its operating and dividend capacities. I see a rights issue as well as warrants thrown in as sweeteners. To do a rights issue, KPS shares must go beyond RM2.50.

We are only a ringgit away from that level. Any news will push KPS up. It could be an announcement of the agreed water rates for the water transfer project; potential early discussion with the Perak Goverment on another water transfer project or the tendering of the Western Corridor tolled highway project.

I am watching for this to happen.

Heartsong

Regrets

Every one has some regrets. Some are understandable but most can be avoided. I have mine too. Poor choice of the course I took at university. Poor career choice. not saving enough money. Buying a house in the wrong neighbourhood. Buying a wrong car. Many, many more.

Talentime

I remembered the talentimes when I was at school. Kwai Wah and his rendition of “Fall in Love with You” and Richard Bateman on his accordion were memorable. I do not know where Kwai Wah is today but Richard was killed while hunting, donkey years ago. School Talentimes were generally forgettable.

Then came the era of the Bintang RTM and we had great discoveries the likes of Sudirman Hj Arshad. That era came and went. Sudirman himself has gone too.

Then came our Malaysia Idol. This national contest did attract some attention. Jaclyn Victor certainly deserves to win over Dina. Malaysia Idol 2 was an upset, though. That squeky Daniel won. Nita should have. See how she spin her magic with “Big Spender”.

Akademi Fantasia-I did not watch the earlier ones as it catered to an almost Malay audience. Mawi, however, during the last Akademi Fantasia was good and deserved it. One in a Million- the worst contest as the winner should have been Dayang from the word ‘Go’…. A tragedy of the worst kind… Suki is just a baby!

So what kind of contest do we have for 2007? The Chinese are having their Superstar finals but they appeal only to the Chinese speaking community particularly to the Cantonese. So far nothing in sight.

So let us look at the current American Idol contest. We are now down to the Final 7 after Haley Scarnato was sent home. Not a great singer but great legs! It looks like a two-horse race now with two possible outsiders as well. I must say farewell to Phil,Chris and Sanjaya. The hot breath fight will be between Melinda Doolittle and Lakisha. Jordin and Brad may caused an upset but quite unlikely.

My placings are: Melinda Doolittle for a win, Lakisha and Brad for a place. Jordin will come in 4^th. and Sanjaya 5^th.

So, let us see how it will materialise as the weeks go by.

Quote of the Day:

Heartsong

The Beggars' Syndicate

I was having a walk recently at the SS2 morning market.

'Look at that beggar. Do you ever wonder how he comes here daily?' asked my wife.

The thought had never crossed my mind.

"Well, they are ferried here daily by a syndicate. They will watch over these beggars and observed their takings. After that, they are whisked away,"said my wife, knowingly.

A very plausible explanation indeed.

So the next time, you see a beggar on the street and takes pity on him, remember you are contributing to a syndicate.


Quote of the Day"

Everybody is ignorant,only on different subjects."Will Rogers

Heartsong