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Thursday, 9 June 2011
JIM ROGER - One on One June 8
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Mineweb.com -Three reasons why gold is going to have a big summer - Embry - GOLD ANALYSIS | Mineweb
Posted: Wednesday , 08 Jun 2011
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KL...Asian spot for high-end city living...
Business @ AsiaOne KL becoming top Asian spot for high-end city living Friendly policies, affordable pricing, living standards cited as pull factors. George Joseph Thu, Jun 02, 2011 The Business Times WORLD-CLASS city living has come to Kuala Lumpur. The Malaysian capital is dotted with new, amenity-filled, chic apartments and the city has never been as cosmopolitan and vibrant as it is now.
With the recent influx of expatriates, joined by affluent younger Malaysians moving out of their parents' suburban homes to live in the city, Kuala Lumpur is becoming a top Asian spot for high-end city living.
The demographic shift of city dwellers has fuelled a new range of better class condominiums and office-cum-residences in and around Kuala Lumpur and property prices are edging up, with the swankiest dwellings nearing RM3,000 per sq ft. Much of the action is around the pride of Kuala Lumpur, the gleaming Petronas Towers, which also houses the KL Convention Centre (KLCC). With its two beautiful sparkling silver spires visible from just about every spot in the city, to say you are residing five minutes away - or for that matter even five kilometres away - from the landmark towers, gives residents the ultimate address for fine city living. But property developers are not content with what they say is just a trickle of foreign interest in Malaysian property in general. The Developers Association of Malaysia (REHDA) thinks the sector can do better, although Kuala Lumpur is in a league of its own. A survey of its members revealed that only about 5 per cent of Malaysian property is bought by foreigners. Singaporeans, undoubtedly, are the biggest foreign buyers, followed by investors from Europe, China, Indonesia and Korea. The survey noted that foreign buyers mainly purchased properties in Kuala Lumpur and in the states of Selangor, Penang and Johor. Developers have been eyeing Singaporeans and offering them Malaysian properties as a viable investment option. Eric Chan, executive director of Malaysian property and lifestyle player E&O Group, believes there are many positive factors to make it happen. "Price-wise, the exchange rate which is in favour of Singapore makes Malaysian properties much more affordable," he told BT in an interview. "In fact, the Malaysian property market is an 'unpolished gem' with immense upside potential. Neighbouring countries have experienced vast increment in values over the last few years but property prices in Malaysia remained relatively more realistic but no less attractive." Malaysia's "foreigner-friendly" property investment policies, including allowing foreigners to own freehold properties, should be a boon to Singaporeans who are just a couple of hours drive away from Kuala Lumpur and other cities, he said. Kuala Lumpur's Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) programme is a factor that is now helping to drive foreign ownership of properties, with its easy entry and hassle-free residence permits, multiple entry visas and renewable social visit pass. Mr Chan added that Malaysian banks extend "friendly lending terms" to foreigners as well. He touts Kuala Lumpur and Penang as Malaysia's highly liveable places, with both in joint position as the eighth Most Liveable City in Asia in 2010, according to EAC International, an agency that rates living conditions in major cities for expatriates. "Malaysia's marketability to foreigners also rests on its relatively low cost of living, widespread use of English, as well as quality education and healthcare," said Mr Chan. "The development process in Malaysia is fairly local and homegrown. From a developer's point of view it is not really worth the cost for foreigners to buy raw land and then develop it. But we would wish to have more foreign buyers because it stimulates the prices, and that is not necessarily a bad thing to attract," said REHDA president Michael Yam. "Unless Malaysian property prices appreciate, it is still the cheapest in South-east Asia," he added. E&O itself has built up a reputation for being a niche high-end property player. This reputation is built across a series of exclusive addresses in Kuala Lumpur and Penang. In Kuala Lumpur, some of its landmark developments include the high-end condo Dua Residency in the heart of the city, which is almost fully occupied or owned by foreigners. But its recently launched St Mary Residences, in the heart of the Kuala Lumpur business district, might well prove to be the city's classiest living address. St Mary's is a three 28-storey tower block project touted as the only residential complex in the central business district. With residents expected to be able to occupy their units in the first quarter of next year, it has attracted considerable participation from foreign investors, including a big Singapore presence. The development is another indication of Kuala Lumpur's growing residential property sophistication. With selling prices ranging between RM1.45 million (S$592,140) and RM11.08 million for 4,000 sq ft penthouses, Mr Chan described them as "luxurious, but practical". All units come with timber flooring, air-conditioning, kitchen cabinets, fridge, kitchen hob, microwave oven and washing machines and the project will have its own 1.2-acre central park in its midst. With St Mary Residences raising the bar for Kuala Lumpur city living, the property sector can only go up in sophistication with building standards, design and finish much better all round, said a Singapore-based property consultant. The sector is poised to remain buoyant with continuing government support, favourable regulations and a thriving economy able to attract foreign direct investment flow. For its neighbours, the Malaysian residential property sector is still attractive and affordable. With political stability and no major blocks towards foreign investment, investors will continue to see its property sector as one of the more liquid hedging assets. This article was first published in The Business Times. |
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Stay Out of US Treasuries: Gross
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Shanghai Stocks to Rally 20% by Year-End - CNBC
Wednesday, 8 Jun 2011 | 7:38 PM ET
News Assistant, CNBC Asia Pacific
From concerns over a hard landing to fears over stagflation, investors have found plenty of reasons to stay far away from China’s share market recently. TheShanghai Composite has fallen 3 percent so far this year, a lackluster performance for one of the fastest growing economies of the world.
But, HSBC’s head of China equity strategy, Steven Sun, believes that’s about to change. The bank is forecasting a 20 percent rebound for the mainland benchmark by year-end.
It’s a change from the bank’s bearish view in November last year, when it warned that the central bank was behind the curve on monetary policy. The bank is now forecasting an acceleration in money supply growth, which will boost equities.
“The ultimate catalyst is the end of the tightening cycle. That will lead the market to turn a corner,” Sun told CNBC. He’s forecasting money supply growth will go back to 17 percent from the current 13 percent.
There are already some signs of improving sentiment in the market. HSBC says insiders and overseas investors are buying more shares. Insider buying went up to $200 million in May from $52 million in April.
State-owned companies Datang Power, COSCO and Shenhua Group have recently announced increases in shareholding plans, a sign of increasing optimism. Under such plans, a parent company increases its ownership of the operating company.
Some major firms have also announced share buybacks in recent months. For example, the world’s largest coal company, China Shenhua announced a buyback of 10 percent of its outstanding shares in the Hong Kong and Shanghai markets in April.
Sun says the current round of buybacks is similar to activity that took place during the 2008 market bottom.
For overseas investors looking to gain exposure to mainland equities, HSBC recommends subscribing to mutual funds that invest directly in the A-share market, particularly those that are currently trading at a discount to their net asset value (NAV). Some of these include the HSBC China Dragon Fund, Morgan Stanley China A Share and AMP Capital China Growth.
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Bernanke vs. Wall Street June 8, 2011...Recorded
June 8, 2011
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Why Is The Economy So Bad?
Millions of Americans have lost their homes, tens of millions of Americans can't find a decent job and 44 million Americans are on food stamps. This is causing an increasing number of Americans to ask this question: "Why is the economy so bad?" There are some Americans that are old enough to remember the Great Depression, but the vast majority of us have never known hard times. All our lives we were told that America was the greatest economy on the planet and that we would always experience endless prosperity in this nation. That was easy to believe because even though we had a recession once in a while, things always bounced back and got even better than ever. But now something seems different. The current economic downturn began back in 2007 and yet here we are in 2011 and there seems to be no end in sight for this economic crisis. So what in the world is going on? Can anyone explain why the economy is so bad?
The following are some of the kinds of questions that the American people are asking about the economy these days....
Why does it seem like it is harder to get a job today than it used to be?
Well, it is because there are far fewer jobs available and far fewer people are getting hired. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, an average of about 5 million Americans were being hired every single month during 2006. Today, an average of about 3.5 million Americans are being hired every single month.
Is there much hope that the unemployment rate will start to decline significantly?
Unfortunately there does not appear to be much reason for optimism. Initial weekly unemployment claims have been above 400,000 for 7 weeks in a row. The "jobs recovery" we have been promised simply is not materializing. Only 66.8% of American men had a job last year. That was the lowest level that has ever been recorded. At the rate we are going things are going to be about the same this year.
So where did all of the jobs go?
They are being sent overseas at a blistering pace. The United States has lost an average of 50,000 manufacturing jobs per month since China joined the World Trade Organization in 2001, and the U.S. trade deficit with China is now 27 times larger than it was back in 1990. Amazingly, the United States has losta staggering 32 percent of its manufacturing jobs since the year 2000.
Why does it seem like nearly all of the jobs that are available right now are crappy, low paying jobs?
Well, because most of the jobs that are available are crappy, low paying jobs. The following is a brief excerpt from a recent article posted on Tomdispatch.com.....
According to a recent analysis by the National Employment Law Project (NELP), the biggest growth in private-sector job creation in the past year occurred in positions in the low-wage retail, administrative, and food service sectors of the economy. While 23% of the jobs lost in the Great Recession that followed the economic meltdown of 2008 were “low-wage” (those paying $9-$13 an hour), 49% of new jobs added in the sluggish “recovery” are in those same low-wage industries. On the other end of the spectrum, 40% of the jobs lost paid high wages ($19-$31 an hour), while a mere 14% of new jobs pay similarly high wages.
Why are so many Americans afraid to start businesses?
Maybe it is because the overregulation of business in this country has now reached extreme levels. For example, the U.S. Department of Agriculture recently slapped a fine of $90,000 on one family from Missouri because they sold more than $500 worth of rabbits in a single year. The $4,600 in rabbits that they sold ended up netting the family only $200 in profits.
If people are not able to make a decent living, then how are they providing for their families?
Sadly, an increasing number of Americans are simply not able to put food on the table anymore. Today, one out of every eight Americans is on food stamps andone out of every four American children is on food stamps.
For the first time ever, more than a million American homes were repossessed during 2010. So is there any sign that this will turn around in the years ahead?
Sadly, things could get even worse. Today, there are 6.4 million homeowners that are delinquent on their mortgages or in foreclosure. Of those, 675,000 have not made a payment in at least two years.
Will the U.S. housing market ever recover?
Hopefully we will see some sort of a recovery at some point, but right now things don't look good. In April, signed contracts to buy homes fell to a 7-month low. There are 120 million more people in the U.S. than there were in 1963, but home purchases are currently at about half the level they were back then. The truth is that there are dozens of indications that the U.S. real estate crisis may get even worse before things start getting better.
Why does it seem like health care costs so much these days?
Sadly, it is because the entire U.S. health care industry has become a giant money making scam. According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, health care costs accounted for just 9.5% of all personal consumption back in 1980. Today they account for approximately 16.3%. One study found that approximately 41 percent of working age Americans either have medical bill problems or are currently paying off medical debt. Health care costs continue to increase far faster than the general rate of inflation and so this crisis is going to continue to get worse.
Is "retirement" rapidly becoming a luxury that only the wealthy can enjoy?
According to stunning new research, 54 percent of all American workers plan to keep working after they retire. A different study found that American workers are $6.6 trillion short of what they need to retire comfortably.
Why does it seem like U.S. companies are hiring so many temporary workers?
It is because American businesses are hiring them by the bushel. A whopping 26 percent of all the workers hired in 2010 were temporary workers. That is way, way above historical norms. Temporary workers are far cheaper and much easier to get rid of.
Is the gap between the rich and the poor growing in America?
Yes, it most certainly is. Between 1979 and and 2007, the average household income of the top 1% of Americans soared from $346,600 to $1.3 million. During that same time period the average household income for middle class Americans increased only slightly. At this point, the poorest 50% of all Americans collectively own just 2.5% of all the wealth in the United States.
Does how much money you make tend to alter your view of how well the economy is doing?
Well, according to recent Gallup polling, 46% of those Americans that make less than $30,000 a year believe that we are in a depression right now, while only 23% of those making $75,000 or more believe that we are currently in a depression.
Why do members of Congress seem to care so little about average American workers?
Perhaps it is because 58 percent of the members of Congress are millionaires while only about 1 percent of the general population is made up of millionaires.
So if the economy is in such bad shape why do we still have such a high standard of living?
Sadly, the truth is that we have only been able to maintain our incredibly high standard of living by going into massive amounts of debt. The U.S. national debt is now more than 14 times larger than it was when Ronald Reagan took office. America has become absolutely addicted to government money. Any politician that threatens to reduce government payouts usually gets voted out of office fairly quickly. 59 percent of all Americans now receive money from the federal government in one form or another. U.S. households are now actually receiving more income from the U.S. government than they are paying to the government in taxes. In 1980, government transfer payments accounted for just 11.7% of all income. Today, government transfer payments account for 18.4% of all income. As long as the American people continue to be addicted to receiving government payouts the federal government will continue to be drowning in debt.
But it is not just the federal government with a debt problem. State and local government debt has reached an all-time high of 22 percent of U.S. GDP. Many state and local governments are even closer to going broke than the federal government is.
U.S. households have been on a debt binge for decades as well. Average household debt in the United States has now reached a level of 136% of average household income.
The truth is that we are a nation that is addicted to debt. We are living in the greatest debt bubble in the history of the world and it was really fun while it lasted.
Unfortunately, the bills are starting to come due and nobody is quite sure how we can possibly pay for all of our mistakes.
We are drowning in debt at the same time that our economic infrastructure is being ripped to shreds. Tens of thousands of factories have closed over the last decade. There is a never ending parade of companies leaving the United States. U.S. workers are having a really tough time competing against slave labor on the other side of the globe. Thanks to "globalization", multinational corporations can hire workers for slave labor wages on the other side of the planet and nobody can stop them.
But if U.S. workers lose their jobs, they go from paying taxes into the system to being a drain on the system. This makes our government debt situation even worse.
Let there be no mistake - America is in economic decline.
So why is the economy so bad?
The truth is that decades of debt and really, really bad decisions are starting to catch up with us.
The economy is a mess right now and things are going to get a whole lot worse.
You better get ready.
http://endoftheamericandream.com/archives/why-is-the-economy-so-bad
Bernanke Sees Faster Growth Ahead for Economy
Jun 7, 2011 by AssociatedPress
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke says that although the economy has weakened in recent weeks, growth will pick up later this year due to the temporary nature of Japan's nuclear crisis and the slowdown from high gas prices. (June 7)
COUNTRY COMPARISON :: CURRENT ACCOUNT BALANCE
COUNTRY COMPARISON :: CURRENT ACCOUNT BALANCE
This entry records a country's net trade in goods and services, plus net earnings from rents, interest, profits, and dividends, and net transfer payments (such as pension funds and worker remittances) to and from the rest of the world during the period specified. These figures are calculated on an exchange rate basis, i.e., not in purchasing power parity (PPP) terms.
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All information on this website is for educational purposes only and is not intended to provide financial advise. Any statements about profits or income, expressed or implied, does not represent a guarantee. Your actual trading may result in losses as no trading system is guaranteed. You accept full responsibilities for your actions, trades, profit or loss, and agree to hold MinKL Invest harmless in any and all ways.