Invest Positively

Princeton professor advises switching to safer assets at first sign of crisis

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke tomorrow may disappoint stock investors betting on a commitment to step up stimulus. He has little choice, given rising consumer prices and a U.S. economy that is still growing.

Manchester United’s decision to favour the Singapore exchange over our own is no loss. The club may make plenty of revenue, but little of that will go to shareholders

Based on averages, Q4 tends to be far better for equities

Singapore is attracting an unwelcome flood of U.S. dollars that has caused a key interest rate to turn negative, complicating efforts to dampen inflation and prompting speculation the central bank will tweak its policy to slow the rapid rise in the country’s currency.

Can You Cut It as a Financial Advisor?

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has asked credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) to disclose which employees knew of its decision to downgrade US debt before it was announced last week.

Growing ranks of lazy consumers boost online sales and delivery services

But analysts say easing in bank credit likely over fears of global slowdown

Mainland shipbuilders encouraged to upgrade and focus on high-technology vessels in order to displace South Korean rivals as industry leaders

A piecemeal ban on short-selling of financial stocks in Europe sparked a rush of alternative proposals from countries and regulators yesterday and investors said the row undermined a rally in bank shares.

While the China-US monthly trade surplus has reached a record, a new US Fed study shows that China shares little of the blame for America’s economic malaise

Largest futures market lifts by 22 per cent the level of cash speculators must keep on deposit to hold contracts; price drops most in 7 weeks, to US$1,756

Now the Securities and Exchange Commission apparently wants to know where those rumours came from and how they spread. The Financial Times reported Friday that the SEC has opened an inquiry, asking S&P to let it know who knew of the downgrade decision before it was announced, as a preliminary look into a possible insider trading inquiry.

Alex Crippen, cnbc.com 11 August 2011 It's a good time to remember one of Warren Buffett's classic rules: "Be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful." With so much fear in the financial markets right now, it's not a surprise that Buffett is being greedy. He reminds Fortune's Andy Serwer that "the lower things go, the more I buy. We are in the business of buying." (He, of course, won't say exactly what he's buying.) Buffett often makes a comparison to the price of hamburgers at McDonalds. If the price tag is reduced he doesn't get worried, he buys more and feels good that he's paying less for the same hamburger than it would have cost him the day before. He acknowledges, however, that overcoming fear is easier said than done. "There is no comparison between fear and greed. Fear is instant, pervasive and intense. Greed is slower. Fear hits."

S&P won’t publish names or panel’s deliberations

Keppel Corp (KEP) and Sembcorp Marine (SMM) are down about 6.4% and 7.2% respectively currently.

Algos like this one will thrive when world’s fastest trading engine launches here on Aug 15

Washington, Aug 8 (IANS) Here is the Standard and Poor's list of top 20 US companies sitting on $1.4 trillion in cash, even as the debt-ridden world's largest economy had to face an embarrassing ratings downgrade last week: 1. Citigroup $526 billion 2. JPMorgan Chase $414 billion 3. Wells Fargo $112 billion 4. General Electric $82 billion 5. Microsoft $53 billion 6. Google $39 billion 7. Oracle $29 billion 8. Apple $28 billion 9. Johnson & Johnson $27 billion 10. Pfizer $24 billion 11. Chevron $18 billion 12. Coca-Cola $14 billion 13. Intel $12 billion 14. IBM $12 billion 15. Exxon Mobil $10 billion 16. Walmart $9 billion 17. Schlumberger $5 billion 18. AT&T $4 billion 19. Procter & Gamble $3 billion 20. Philip Morris $2 billion

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A scary drop in stocks and commodities threatens to squeeze life out of an already faltering US economy, with deal-making, investment in plants and equipment, and capital raising at risk of slowing down or freezing up.

South Korea’s US$300 billion state pension fund, the world’s fourth-largest, muscled its way into markets yesterday to buy shares in a bid to stem a sell-off that had pushed Seoul stocks down almost 5 per cent amid a global market rout.

Okay. I understand that our finances are a mess and our political system is broken. We just missed a good chance to improve things significantly, and we chose, instead, to improve things marginally. Several times, our leaders snatched defeat from victory. Neither side could say yes. Yet, they did the minimum and avoided default.

With US$2.5 trillion wiped off the value of stocks in the past week alone, it feels almost like a replay of 2008. During that time, the turmoil in the markets - which intensified after the collapse of Lehman Brothers on Sept 15 that year - was triggered by the US sub-prime mortgage crisis. This time, the turmoil is driven by the eurozone sovereign debt crisis - with a little help from the United States, which has just condemned itself to a decade of fiscal austerity. Just how bad the repercussions of this will be are still uncertain, but we know they will be bad.

Investment markets threatened by governments that have run out of policy options

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Chinese state media hit out at the US on Saturday after its unprecedented ratings downgrade, saying the world’s largest economy needed to cure its “addiction” to debt.

Markets could rebound after Thursday's global market sell-off, but investors should see any bounce as a selling opportunity, as the world economy rolls towards total collapse, Mark Faber, editor and publisher of the Boom, Doom and Gloom Report, told CNBC Friday. Link

Harvard professor sees 50% chance of recession in the US; growth may slow in Europe and Asia

A spate of spectacular collapses of Chinese stocks listed on American exchanges has cost U.S. investors billions of dollars. The fiasco has sparked multiple investigations. Accusations are swirling in Washington and Beijing.

“After all the wind and storm, what’s going on with the high-speed train?” read the prophetic message posted last Saturday evening on the Chinese microblog Sina Weibo. “It’s crawling slower than a snail. I hope nothing happens to it.”

Mainland’s largest charity opens up some of its accounts online in an effort to regain credibility after scandal, but internet users are not impressed

Though offer has been doubled, victims’ relatives reluctant to give up right to seek further redress

Authorities are struggling to contain the backlash on microblogs over the handling of the crash

Mainland curbs on coverage of train crash deny public the assurance probes will be transparent

An accident has put high-speed rail technology in the spotlight

Fleets owned by mining companies may lead to a majority control of China-bound iron ore shipments

If stock-picking were a game of football, James Lim would be one of those runts who outrun their opponents on the field.