Invest Positively

The International Monetary Fund said today global markets will suffer if the U.S. Congress fails to approve an increase in the $14.3 trillion debt ceiling and cautioned about the risk of a downgrade in the country’s credit rating.

High unemployment? Check. A depressed housing market? Check. Strong potential for a global debt crisis? Check. Big stock market rally into the end of the year? Sure, why not?

A recent scandal involving fraud in a company’s A-share listing has sounded another wake-up call for mainland regulators and investors.

With Europe embroiled in the sovereign debt crisis and the US economy not recovering as quickly or as strongly as hoped, investors are now turning their attention to a slowdown in Chinese economic activity.

Even the permabears seem to think storm is passing

Accounting scandals in listed firms from China create ripples in US, Korea and Taiwan

The cracks are starting to show in Hong Kong’s once buoyant market for initial public offerings, but that isn’t necessarily good news for rival Singapore.

A bailout bigger than TARP

Some of the upcoming rule changes will help protect shareholders

What’s the difference between an ostrich and a Wall Street analyst? An ostrich occasionally takes its head out of the sand.

The rash of accounting scandals at Chinese companies could spell defeat for investment banks in Hong Kong in their long-running battle to avoid being made liable for the prospectuses of initial public offerings (IPOs) they sponsor.

Chinese companies in Hong Kong are less likely to fool investors than those in the U.S. because the city’s bourse does more to prevent fraud, said Charles Li, chief executive officer of Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Ltd.

Policymakers at the US central bank have been surprised by the continuing weakness of the American economy - but they are hoping that things will pick up later this year.

How is it that fundamentally good companies are delisting from the Singapore Exchange (SGX) or seeking a dual listing elsewhere while S-chips, tainted by dubious accounting and governance practices, are still listed and in many cases enjoyed rises to record highs over the past few years?

Paulson’s misstep over Sino-Forest reflects unease about how the second-biggest economy does business

China’s growth is slowing under the weight of Beijing’s anti-inflation campaign and weaker global demand, but any investors betting on a hard landing would be underestimating the resilience of the world’s second-largest economy.

Billionaire hedge fund manager John Paulson, the largest shareholder in Sino-Forest, has sold his entire stake in the Chinese forestry company in the latest in a string of setbacks triggered by a damning short-seller’s report.

Funds reduced bullish bets on commodity prices for the first time in four weeks as Greece’s debt crisis spurred speculation that global growth will decline, curbing demand for raw materials.

Mainland stocks could drop by another 9 per cent amid increasing risks of an economic hard landing, predicts Guotai Junan Securities.

Gold mining firm The Think Environmental Co has laid its hands on two more mining licences in Mali, Africa.

There are disturbing parallels between China stocks listed here (or S-chips, as they are known) and Malaysian stocks that used to be quoted on Clob International.

China faces a “meaningful probability” of a hard economic landing and the euro zone is storing up problems for the future by not tackling the debt crisis head on, said Nouriel Roubini, the economist who predicted the global financial crisis.

S-CHIPS here are getting hammered, as accounting scandals surrounding Chinese companies continue to dominate headlines.

Uncooperative bank officers, confusing testimonies from dodgy third-party suppliers and numerous obstructions from management to obtaining information - all this clearly make up an exciting read.

A spacious office in downtown Shanghai’s Citigroup Tower quickly fell silent two months ago after a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) probe started targeting the tenant’s clients.

KPMG’s report on China Milk reveals irregularities in transactions and payments

No matter what Federal Reserve officials say, waning US growth has many here convinced that QE3 is on the way. Asian currencies are rising in anticipation.

Unlike Japan, China’s committed and able to change export-led model

Top banker sees ‘some bubbles’ in property market

U.S. stocks are unlikely to drop much more even as the Federal Reserve stops buying bonds because there’s more than enough money available, according to Brian Belski, Oppenheimer & Co.’s chief investment strategist.

Sino-Forest on Monday accused short-seller Muddy Waters of defamation for alleging in a report that it had fraudulently exaggerated its Chinese forestry assets.

American lawyer Carson Block has shot to fame by identifying malpractices at mainland companies in which he also happens to have a financial stake

When a stock moves in an unusual manner, eyebrows are raised and observers wonder if the Singapore Exchange (SGX) is taking a closer look because it implies the possible leak of price-sensitive information.

One should never underestimate the Chinese policymakers’ resolve in defending China’s national interests.

Delisted firm worth more than 4 cents a share, they say, pointing to property

The Think Environmental Company (TTEC) has been rather chameleon- like these past few years. In 2009, when green issues drew significant attention, it transformed itself from a maker of office equipment into a renewable energy firm. About a year later, when gold marked a strong 10-year run-up in pricing, it decided to go into gold mining.

The audit committees of various Singapore-listed Chinese companies or S-chips are scrambling to update the Singapore Exchange (SGX) on their internal reviews before today’s deadline.

Might the Federal Reserve extend its bond purchases beyond June? What until this week was a pie-in-the-sky notion is suddenly fair game for market speculation.

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is investigating some accounting firms over their audits of Chinese companies whose shares trade in the US, and the inquiry is expected to lead to enforcement cases, The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday.

A “sudden” slowdown in China may lead commodity prices to fall as much as 75 percent from current levels, Standard & Poor’s said.

There is probably no better way to gauge what the future holds for retail stock market investors than through the prism of the humble remisier - the broker who would have with quiet resignation contemplated the Singapore Exchange’s (SGX) announcement this week of its decision to narrow the bid-ask quotes for local equities.

A rash of Chinese accounting scandals has raised questions about whether audit firms are doing enough to detect fake money trails and confirm companies’ cash, the most basic number that auditors are supposed to check.

The counter closed at $1.97, four cents - or 2.1% - higher yesterday