S'pore private home prices rise 3.7% in Q1

[mr funny]

http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/sub/latest/story/0,4574,276616,00.html?

April 25, 2008, 12.55 pm (Singapore time)

S'pore private home prices rise 3.7% in Q1


SINGAPORE - Singapore private home prices rose 3.7 per cent between January and March, the second straight quarter of slower growth as property sales slowed, government figures showed on Friday.

Click here for URA's press release (http://www.ura.gov.sg/pr/text/2008/pr08-44.html)

The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) said the price index for private homes, an indicator of inflation that is already at 26-year highs, rose to 177.2 for the three months ended March, from 170.8 in the previous three-month period.

Private home prices jumped 31 percent in 2007 for the largest increase in eight years, but growth has slowed since the final quarter of 2007 while the Jan-March sales volume slumped to the lowest since 2003.

Moves by the government to cool the Singapore housing market, coupled with fears of a global economic downturn, have kept homebuyers away from showrooms and are expected to hit developers such as CapitaLand and City Developments. -- REUTERS

[mr funny]

http://www.straitstimes.com/Prime%2BNews/Story/STIStory_231047.html

April 26, 2008

Home prices rise more slowly in quiet market

Lower-than-forecast 3.7% growth could signal start of decline

By Fiona Chan, Property Reporter


THE property market may have gone quiet, but home prices continued their steady climb in the first three months of this year, albeit at a much weaker pace.

Private home prices rose 3.7 per cent between January and March, down from the 6.8 per cent growth in the previous three months.

It was also notably lower than the 4.2 per cent rise that had been predicted early this month, based on sales in the first 10 weeks.

This suggests prices may have started declining last month, dragging down the whole quarter.

'Price growth is starting to weaken severely and the volume of transactions has halved,' said Mr Chua Yang Liang, Jones Lang LaSalle's head of South-east Asia research.

'The rate of increase in coming quarters is likely to be even slower and prices may peak in the third or fourth quarter.'

Observers have suggested that private home prices could be holding partly because developers are putting off project launches, thus curbing the supply of new homes.

Developers had 10,239 new units ready for sale in the first quarter that were not launched - that is a three-year high and 3,000 more than in the previous quarter.

The number of units actually launched in the quarter - 1,343 - was the lowest in almost four years.

'There's a lot of supply but it hasn't been released into the market yet, and that could be one reason why prices are still growing,' said Mr Nicholas Mak, director of research and consultancy at property firm Knight Frank.

Almost half of these unlaunched units were in the core central region, comprising the prime districts 9 to 11, the Marina Bay area and Sentosa. The rest were evenly divided between the city-fringe and suburban regions.

Mr Ku Swee Yong of Savills Singapore said developers may not be delaying launches to deliberately prop up prices but, rather, to wait out the weak market sentiment and uncertain global outlook.

Whatever the reason, the lack of launches has forced buyers to turn to the secondary market, where they bought 2,304 homes in the quarter - three times what they bought directly from developers.

This shows there is still an underlying demand for homes, and may also have helped sustain prices at current levels, analysts said.

The slowdown affected private homes in all areas, from prime to suburban regions. Each region saw prices rise only 3 to 4 per cent, from 7 to 8 per cent the previous quarter.

Sub-sales - this is when a person buys an uncompleted home and then sells it again before it is built - made up a tenth of all sales.

In the case of public housing, resale prices rose 3.7 per cent in the first quarter, down from 5.7 per cent previously. But sales dropped 6 per cent to 6,360 transactions.

The median cash-over-valuation amount - the portion of a flat's price that buyers have to pay in cash - dipped slightly to $21,000. This shows that buyers are starting to resist having to fork out too much cash for HDB flats, especially since valuations have climbed recently.

All other types of properties also saw lower growth, with office prices logging the biggest slowdown. They rose only 1.1 per cent in the first quarter, down from 8 per cent in the previous three months.

But office rentals stayed strong, as businesses continued to expand and space remained tight.

[email protected]

[DJ Market Talk]

DJ MARKET TALK: Demand For Mass-Mkt Homes Firm Until 2009 -UOB-KH



0412 GMT [Dow Jones] Demand for mass-market private homes in Singapore likely to outpace supply well into 2009, based on recently released 1Q08 URA data showing prices for this segment outperformed those in mid-tier market, says UOB-KayHian. Prices of mass-market homes +3.8% on-quarter vs 3.3% growth in rest of central region, a proxy for mid-tier segment. "This is in line with our expectations of the favorable demand-supply dynamics in the mass market segment," says house, noting strong demand from buyers priced out of mid-tier market, from foreigners who prefer to buy instead of rent, from cash-rich owners who opt to downgrade following collective sale of their previous homes. Likes diversified developers such as Keppel Land (K17.SG), CapitaLand (C31.SG) and those trading at deep discount to RNAV, including Ho Bee Investment (H13.SG), Allgreen Properties (A16.SG). Respective target prices at S$8.86, S$6.90, S$1.50, S$1.60. (FKH)

[DJ]

DJ MARKET TALK: CS Keeps Singapore Ppty Sector At Market-Weight

0551 GMT [Dow Jones] Credit Suisse keeps Singapore property sector at Market-Weight after Friday release from URA and HDB of official 1Q08 data show growth slowed down across all segments: private residential, public housing (HDB), office, retail and industrial prices and rents; notes retail rents exception, growing slightly faster at 1%. Notes new private home take-up rates at 57%, marking lowest level since 1997, despite developers delaying launches. "Both developers and buyers continue to 'wait-and-see,' although we observe some developers and panic secondary sellers are already starting to drop prices." Notes 56,000 private homes, 8 million sq ft NLA of office space expected to be completed 2Q08-2011; says looks excessive vs average annual take-up of private homes and office space at 7,500, 1.6 million sq ft, respectively. "We remain cautious on the developers, especially those with substantial exposure to high end properties - Wing Tai (W05.sG). We prefer the retail REITs - CapitalMall Trust (C38U.SG) and Frasers Centrepoint Trust (J69U.SG) to play the still-buoyant retail sector, which should also be more resilient in a downturn." (LES)

(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 28, 2008 01:51 ET (05:51 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2008 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

[hang the dj]

No way mate. Property prices will NOT go up. This is the endgame for Singapore property already. All investors are grasping at straws.

[Hang The "hang the dj"]

No way mate. Property prices will NOT fall. This is no endgame for Singapore property already. All investors are resting and awaiting the next surge.

[jlrx]

In fact I'm more concerned about inflation than anything else. Hence this lull period is a good time to reflect on our property investment strategy and how it can help to insulate us against the impact of inflation.

What type of property will be a good hedge against future inflation? I remember back around the 1980's when the Government started talking about increasing ministerial salaries by benchmarking against private sector salaries, top lawyers in Singapore were earning only $800,000 p.a. Today that's no big deal anymore, and top lawyers now earn between $4 million to $5 million per year.

The income at the top seems to be pulling away from the rest of the population.

If you notice that Lasik Clinic at Paragon, they claim to perform more than 2000 Lasiks per month. At a price of around $1,400 per eye, that's $2.8 million per month, or $33.6 million a year!

If I'm not wrong, they have only 3 doctors so each one earns more than $10 million a year! I don't know how much expenses they incur, but that's the sort of astronomical figures we're talking about.

There are going to be more and more of these super-rich people. Last time, CEOs used to earn around $1 million a year and we thought that was a lot. Now they can rake in $5 million and above per year.

What sort of houses will these people want to stay in? Good Class Bungalows or Luxury Condominiums? If we are able to pre-empt them by buying up the houses before there are more and more of them who are earning more and more, then we can hedge against asset inflation as well as other types of inflation.

Good Class Bungalows and luxury condominiums cost around $10 million to $15 million each. This is tremendously underpriced relative to the earning power of the people who can afford them. Imagine, why would a doctor who earns $10 million a year stay in a house that costs him only one year of his salary. Hence I think such properties will one day reach $50 million to $100 million, like in Hong Kong.

I feel GCBs are the best buys because there are only 1000 of them and unlike condos, their number will not increase. On the other hand, the number of people who can afford them is continously increasing, and the incomes of such people are increasing at an exponential rate.

Problem is, the price of GCBs, even today, is so totally out of reach of ordinary folks. I am thinking very hard what sort of cheaper houses can be a good proxy for investing in a GCB.

Any suggestions?

[Unregistered.]

In fact I'm more concerned about inflation than anything else. Hence this lull period is a good time to reflect on our property investment strategy and how it can help to insulate us against the impact of inflation.

What type of property will be a good hedge against future inflation? I remember back around the 1980's when the Government started talking about increasing ministerial salaries by benchmarking against private sector salaries, top lawyers in Singapore were earning only $800,000 p.a. Today that's no big deal anymore, and top lawyers now earn between $4 million to $5 million per year.

The income at the top seems to be pulling away from the rest of the population.

If you notice that Lasik Clinic at Paragon, they claim to perform more than 2000 Lasiks per month. At a price of around $1,400 per eye, that's $2.8 million per month, or $33.6 million a year!

If I'm not wrong, they have only 3 doctors so each one earns more than $10 million a year! I don't know how much expenses they incur, but that's the sort of astronomical figures we're talking about.

There are going to be more and more of these super-rich people. Last time, CEOs used to earn around $1 million a year and we thought that was a lot. Now they can rake in $5 million and above per year.

What sort of houses will these people want to stay in? Good Class Bungalows or Luxury Condominiums? If we are able to pre-empt them by buying up the houses before there are more and more of them who are earning more and more, then we can hedge against asset inflation as well as other types of inflation.

Good Class Bungalows and luxury condominiums cost around $10 million to $15 million each. This is tremendously underpriced relative to the earning power of the people who can afford them. Imagine, why would a doctor who earns $10 million a year stay in a house that costs him only one year of his salary. Hence I think such properties will one day reach $50 million to $100 million, like in Hong Kong.

I feel GCBs are the best buys because there are only 1000 of them and unlike condos, their number will not increase. On the other hand, the number of people who can afford them is continously increasing, and the incomes of such people are increasing at an exponential rate.

Problem is, the price of GCBs, even today, is so totally out of reach of ordinary folks. I am thinking very hard what sort of cheaper houses can be a good proxy for investing in a GCB.

Any suggestions?
I think you went in the right direction by focusing on income.


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Income, not interest, led to property boom
Business Times
Wednesday, 30 April 2008

The recent climb enjoyed by equity and property prices was driven more by strong economic growth than by low interest rates, according to a study by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).

Empirical research by MAS shows that economic activity exerts a larger influence on asset prices in Singapore than borrowing costs.

'Asset price inflation reflects an underlying increase in income growth augmented in part by favourable sentiment towards domestic assets,' says the study, featured in the MAS macroeconomic review report released yesterday.

The MAS report also says: 'This linkage has been misunderstood by some analysts, who expressed concern that the increase in domestic liquidity, in and of itself, has fuelled the run-up in asset prices.'

Private housing prices increased by 31.2% for 2007 as a whole, and some market analysts had felt that the central bank should raise interest rates to rein in property inflation.

This was because while overseas investors were driving property prices up, the inflow of foreign funds continued to add to domestic liquidity and kept borrowing costs low.

But as the MAS report mentions, 'the factors behind the increase in liquidity are much more complex in view of Singapore's monetary policy framework'.

Domestic interest rates have dropped since September last year as US interest rates fell and the Singapore dollar grew stronger.

The benchmark 3-month domestic interbank rate fell by 144 basis points from August 2007 to 1.31% at the end of March 2008.

As interbank rates fell, banks also started offering cheaper and more innovative mortgage packages.

[Unegistered.]

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More attractive to buy home instead of renting
Marcel Lee Pereira
我报
Tuesday, 29 April 2008

With interest rates sliding, now could be a good time to move out of that rental apartment and get your own home.

Taking a home loan at a lower interest rate could translate into paying less than what you fork out in rent now, and getting the property under your name too, said consumer moneylender GE Money, which offers a range of consumer finance products such as personal and car loans, but not home loans.

Speaking to my paper on responsible borrowing in a climate of low interest rates and a strong Singapore dollar, GE Money's chief marketing officer, Mr Alok Kumar, said: 'It does make sense to buy property now because interest rates are low.'

'If you haven't considered taking a housing loan, now is the time to consider that, because cash flow will make better sense today due to the lower interest rate and lower outflow.'

This is an option because the Singapore Inter-bank Offered Rate (Sibor) is on a downward trend, he said. Sibor, the rate at which banks lend to one another, is a key component used in setting home loan rates. It tends to track the United States Federal Reserve funds rate, which has been slashed in recent weeks.

The three-month Sibor has declined by more than one percentage point, from 2.38% at the start of the year to 1.31% at end-March. It dipped even further to just 1.25% last week. Said Dr Chua Hak Bin, a strategist at Deutsche Bank's Private Wealth Management: 'It's an attractive time to borrow. There is still a chance that the interbank rates might move lower because the market expects the Fed to continue cutting rates.'

But GE Money's Mr Kumar said that consumers should also take a long-term view and understand the long-term risks.

He said: 'You can afford a loan today but, if the interest rate goes up four years later, do you see your earnings also going up' Will you be able to service the loan then?'

A DBS spokesman said that with lower interest rates now, customers would benefit from home loan packages that are pegged to benchmarks like Sibor, where it truly reflects the movements in interbank rates.

'However, one would also need to consider the purpose of the purchase,' said the spokesman.

'For example, if the property is meant for owner occupation, then the consumer should take a longer-term view on the housing loan.'

Besides, one does not buy a property just because of low interest rates, said UOB economist Ho Woei Chen.

'You also have to consider other things like housing prices now, and what you think the property market will be like going forward,' she said.

Mrs Lynn Ong, 32, who lives with her husband and three children in a rented house in Upper Thomson, is hoping to buy a house within the next 6 months, as her rent has just gone up from $3,000 to $5,000 a month.

'Lower interest rates mean I can get the most out of my money. Instead of paying rent, you service a mortgage,' said Mrs Ong, a contract adviser.

'It makes more sense that you put money into something that belongs to you.'

On the stronger Singapore dollar, Mr Kumar believes that investment in shares and funds traded in US dollars would provide higher returns.

'There are no clear low-hanging fruits that you can grab unless it's US dollar-denominated investments,' he said.

'But general prudence about spending and borrowing still prevails even in this environment.'
With the U-turn in March, now is the best time to buy.

[Unregis┼ered]

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More jobs created in early 2008
Channel NewsAsia
Wednesday, 30 April 2008, 1145 hrs

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More jobs were available in the Singapore's services sector in the past few months, contributing to a growth in employment figures.

Preliminary estimates show that employment grew by 68,400 in the first quarter of 2008 as the economy picked up pace. This growth in jobs is higher than the increase of 62,500 in the previous quarter and 49,400 in the first quarter of 2007.

According to the Manpower Ministry, the services industry added 42,900 workers, while construction increased its workforce by 13,400 driven by the growth in building activities.

As for the manufacturing sector, it was the main source of retrenchments, with the largest numbers coming from the electronics industry.

Out of the 2,000 workers retrenched in the first quarter of the year, 1500 had been working in the manufacturing sector. The rest came from the services sector.

The MOM estimates however show that the number retrenched in Q1 08 is similar to the previous quarter and in Q1 07.

Overall, unemployment was up to 2.0% in March 08 from a seasonally adjusted 1.7% in December 2007, but this remains lower than a year ago.
The market will continue to stay healthy as long as we continue to create more jobs.

[Unregistered.]

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Asia growth resilient, but FX rises to slow: S&P
Reuters
Mumbai, India
Wednesday, 20 April 2008

Asia's economy will be resilient in the face of a US recession thanks to the regional locomotives of China and India, but the pace of currency appreciation will slow, Standard & Poor's said on Wednesday.

Asia's exports would take a hit as the world's largest economy slips into a recession, reducing the amount of dollars entering these economies that would fuel rises in their currencies, said Subir Gokarn, Standard & Poor's (S&P) chief Asia-Pacific economist.

Still, Asia-Pacific ex-Japan would still grow 8% or more in 2008 and 2009, he said.

S&P forecast the U.S. economy would shrink 0.5% in the first quarter and 0.9% in the second.

The United States is due to report first-quarter GDP figures later on Wednesday.

'What we are arguing is that the Asian region has developed within itself very strong drivers for growth, which tends to offset the influence of the weakening US economy,' Mr Gokarn told reporters on a conference call.

Chinese and Indian demand for goods from the rest of Asia would offset some of the impact from weaker US demand.

Intra-regional trade would also be boosted by a spate of free trade pacts that have been signed, he said.

He forecast China's economy was likely to grow between 9.5% and 10% in 2008, supported by solid consumption and investment, before slowing to a range of 9% to 9.5% in 2009.

China's economy grew 11.9% in 2007.

He forecast India's economy will grow between 8.2% and 8.7 per cent in 2008 and 7.9% to 8.4% in 2009, from growth of 9.4% in 2007.

Inflation

But inflation risks pose a threat to the region, with some Asian central banks facing limited room to ease policy to spur economic growth at the time of slowing exports, he said.

Elevated inflation pressures in some countries, namely China and Singapore, have put pressure on policy makers to allow currencies to rise to help curb import costs, but Gokarn said the picture may change next year due to the credit crisis.

'I think we're moving back to the pre-2007 arrangement, where essentially all currencies will appreciate but moderately over the next year or two,' he said.

The amount of dollar flows to most Asian countries would moderate as slowing exports led to narrowing current-account surpluses countries while investment flows may also be affected by the heightened global uncertainty, he said.

'We do see moderate, controlled appreciation in the face of persistent current account surpluses and capital inflows, but not as large and not as much pressure as there was in 2006 and 2007.'

Most Asian currencies have risen against the dollar in recent years, but central banks still intervene frequently to prevent abrupt currency rises and help maintain export competitiveness.

The Thai baht has gained 6% so far this year after appreciating 7% in 2007 and 14% in 2006.

The Philippine peso gained 8% in 2006 and 19% in 2007, but has fallen 2% so far this year.

The Malaysian ringgit is up 4.7% so far in 2008, after rising 6.7% in 2007 and 7% in 2006.
Asia should be fine with China and India.
Let's see how US do tonight.

[Unregis+ered]

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U.S. Q1 GDP Growth Stronger Than Forecast
Glenn Somerville
Reuters
Washington, D.C., U.S.
Wednesday, 30 April 2008, 10.00am U.S. EDT

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Shoppers cross Seventh Avenue in New York in a file photo. The economy grew at a slightly stronger pace than forecast as 2008 began, helped by inventory-building that tempered a steadily deteriorating housing sector and less vigorous consumer spending. - Photo: Ray Stubblebine, Reuters

A buildup in inventories kept the economy afloat in the first quarter despite the weakest consumer spending since 2001 and the biggest drop in home building in more than 26 years, a government report showed on Wednesday.

The Commerce Department said gross domestic product or GDP expanded at a 0.6% annual rate in the first quarter, matching the fourth quarter's advance and handily topping a forecast for 0.2% growth in an advance poll of economists by Reuters.

Some economists said the report suggested the U.S. economy was on a bit firmer ground than had been thought, but others were still bracing for worse times ahead as businesses ratchet back production further to try to sell off inventories.

"We expect that the coming inventory correction will send growth into negative territory, save a truly heroic effort by the U.S. consumer to spend their way out of the current malaise with their $600 rebates," said Joseph Brusuelas, U.S. chief economist at IDEAglobal in New York.

Tax rebate checks that are part of a government economic stimulus program began to flow this week to upwards of 100 million Americans.

Government bond prices initially dipped on the stronger-than-expected growth figure but later recovered as investors focused on weakening consumer spending. Stocks opened higher.

Separately, ADP Employer Services said U.S. private-sector employers added 10,000 jobs in April, another surprise on the upside since forecasts had been for 60,000 jobs to be lost.

The reports were issued just before Fed policy-makers began a second day of deliberations that is expected to result in a decision to trim official interest rates another quarter percentage point to try to keep expansion going.

Analysts said they still expected a rate reduction.

"This is not going to disrupt things at the Fed today," said economist Pierre Ellis of Decision Economics in New York.

GDP is the broadest measure of total economic activity within U.S. borders and, despite a better-than-expected first-quarter performance, details of the report reflect widespread weakening that many analysts fear will lead to a recession.

The GDP figures are an initial measure of first-quarter performance and will be revised twice in coming months.

The Fed has cut its benchmark federal funds rate by 3 percentage points since mid-September to shore up the economy and calm unsettled financial markets. But many believe the Fed may send a signal at Wednesday's meeting that its rate-cutting campaign is at an end amid signs of persistent rises in food and energy prices.

Consumer spending that fuels two-thirds of economic activity through consumption of goods and services, grew at the weakest rate since the second quarter of 2001, when the economy was last in recession. It rose at a 1% rate after growing 2.3% in the fourth quarter.

The weakening in an already distressed housing sector was even more striking. Spending on residential construction plunged at a 26.7% rate - a ninth straight quarterly decline and the biggest for any three months since the end of 1981.

A buildup in business inventories, which bolsters growth in the period in which it occurs, helped the economy keep growing in the first quarter. Stocks of unsold goods rose at a $1.8-billion annual rate in the first quarter after shrinking at an $18.3-billion rate in the final quarter of last year.

There was a slight moderation in the rate of price rises. Personal consumption expenditures excluding food and energy items - a key gauge of core inflation that is favored by the Fed - rose at a 2.2% rate after increasing 2.5% in the fourth quarter.

A separate report suggested the weakening labor market was keeping labor costs under wraps. The Labor Department said U.S. employment costs grew at a 0.7% annual rate in the first quarter, marking a slight slowdown from the fourth quarter.

The deep housing slump and a related tightening in credit has put the U.S. economy on the ropes and data from the Mortgage Bankers Association on Wednesday suggested the housing market was far from recovery.

The MBA said its index of mortgage application activity dropped 11.1% last week to its lowest level since late December.
US seems OK at the moment. Let's see what happen in Q2.

[Dow Jones]

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DJ Market Talk: Singapore Housing Strength To Last Until 2010-Lehman Brothers
Dow Jones
Singapore
Wednesday, 30 April 2008, 12.01pm Singapore Time

Upcycle in Singapore's housing market likely to last until 2010, although sector currently taking a breather, says Lehman Brothers.

Expects below-average public housing completion to create deficit of up to 4,300 homes by 2010, pushing homebuyers to private housing market. Says current low transaction volume for private homes has more to do with sentiment than fundamentals; "the concern of the market should be potential housing undersupply and not oversupply, in our view."

Forecasts net supply of 11,000 private homes for 2009, 16,000 for 2010 vs yearly historical average of 7,000 since 1988; "even if we are to take into account a lower net migration rate this year as the economy slows, we think the overall housing supply is still likely to miss the population needs."

Top stock picks include CityDev, Bukit Sembawang, CapitaLand, Keppel Land, SC Global. Respective target prices at S$16.90, S$15.40, S$8.20, S$10.40, S$3.80.

[Reuters]

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Market adds to gains after PMI data
Caroline Valetkevitch
Reuters
New York, New York, U.S.
Wednesday, 30 April 2008, 10.10am U.S. EDT

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Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, 29 April 2008. - Photo: Brendan McDermid, Reuters

Stocks extended gains on Wednesday after a report showing business activity in the Midwest in April was slightly stronger than expected, helping to ease worries about the economy.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 47.06 points, or 0.37%, at 12,879.00. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index (.SPX) was up 3.60 points, or 0.26%, at 1,394.54. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 5.01 points, or 0.21%, at 2,431.11.

[jlrx]

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DJ Market Talk: Singapore Housing Strength To Last Until 2010-Lehman Brothers
Dow Jones
Singapore
Wednesday, 30 April 2008, 12.01pm Singapore Time

Upcycle in Singapore's housing market likely to last until 2010, although sector currently taking a breather, says Lehman Brothers.

Expects below-average public housing completion to create deficit of up to 4,300 homes by 2010, pushing homebuyers to private housing market. Says current low transaction volume for private homes has more to do with sentiment than fundamentals; "the concern of the market should be potential housing undersupply and not oversupply, in our view."

Forecasts net supply of 11,000 private homes for 2009, 16,000 for 2010 vs yearly historical average of 7,000 since 1988; "even if we are to take into account a lower net migration rate this year as the economy slows, we think the overall housing supply is still likely to miss the population needs."

Top stock picks include CityDev, Bukit Sembawang, CapitaLand, Keppel Land, SC Global. Respective target prices at S$16.90, S$15.40, S$8.20, S$10.40, S$3.80.

That's what I suspect too ... the market is taking a breather and ready to surge again.

It's very stressful when the market surges because I'll be running around like a mad dog selling this property and grabbing that property. Property investment is very tiring, emotionally and physically. :banghead:

On the other hand, this lull period is very peaceful and I can go about concentrating on doing my job, at the same time watching my bank "reserves" grow everyday. It's more relaxing grooming "reserve" troops than sending them out to fight a war. :p

[Unreg1stered]

That's what I suspect too ... the market is taking a breather and ready to surge again.

It's very stressful when the market surges because I'll be running around like a mad dog selling this property and grabbing that property. Property investment is very tiring, emotionally and physically. :banghead:

On the other hand, this lull period is very peaceful and I can go about concentrating on doing my job, at the same time watching my bank "reserves" grow everyday. It's more relaxing grooming "reserve" troops than sending them out to fight a war. :p
The best is stress, rest, stress, rest, ....

There is no free lunch in the world. You have to work or get stressed for your lunch. Of course, too much is no good.

[AFP]

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US stocks rally on stronger dollar, falling oil prices
Agence France-Presse
New York, New York
Thursday, 1 May 2008, U.S. EDT

US stocks rallied sharply on Thursday amid a strengthening dollar, falling oil prices and as investors looked forward to an apparent pause in the Federal Reserve's aggressive rate-cutting campaign.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average shot up 189.87 points or 1.48% to close at 13,010.00.

It was the first time the blue-chip index ended a session above 13,000 since January 3.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite rose 67.91 points or 2.81% to 2,480.71 and the broad-market Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500 index advanced a hefty 23.75 points or 1.71% to close at 1,409.34, above the 1,400-mark for the first time since January 14.

'May is off to a strong start,' Briefing.com analysts wrote in a note to clients.

Despite the Federal Reserve's quarter-point interest rate cut on Wednesday, taking its benchmark rate to 2.0%, the dollar gained ground against the euro, trading around US$1.54 (S$2.01) to a euro.

The stronger dollar in turn helped pressure oil prices, which fell to US$112 a barrel in New York, easing concerns about rising inflationary pressures.

The greenback also was lifted by the Fed's statement explaining the rate decision, which many analysts said signaled a halt in its rate cutting and prospects that the worst of a global credit crisis may be ending.

'The Fed's decision should bolster confidence that the worst of the credit crisis is finally passing, although it is still far from finished,' said Frederic Dickson, analyst at DA Davidson & Co.

Economic reports offered a mixed outlook on the economy's direction amid fears the economy is heading into recession, generally defined two consecutive quarters of contraction.

The Commerce Department on Wednesday reported the economy sputtered at a meager 0.6% pace in the first quarter, for the second quarter in a row.

Consumer spending in March rose much more sharply than expected, but most of the gain was due to higher prices, particularly for food and energy, the Commerce Department said.

Economists closely watch consumer spending, which accounts for two-thirds of economic growth, as a bellwether on GDP growth.

Among stocks in focus, ExxonMobil slid 3.62% to US$89.70 after reporting its first-quarter profit rose 17% from a year ago to US$10.89 billion, below Wall Street forecasts.

Home improvement retailer Home Depot, hit hard by the housing slump, jumped 3.72% to US$29.87 after it said it was scaling back its chain of stores in the United States.

Ford Motor shares gained 2.66% at 8.48 despite reporting a steep decline in US sales. Rival General Motors, which also saw sales slide, slipped 0.04 per cent to 23.19.

[AFP]

http://www.afp.com/english/home/imgs/logo.gif
US consumer spending rises 0.4% in March
Agence France-Presse
Washington, D.C., U.S.
Thursday, 1 May 2008, U.S. EDT

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A customer scans dairy products at a grocery store in Washington.

US consumer spending rose 0.4% in March from the prior month, while household income climbed 0.3%, the Commerce Department said.

The March spending increase was the strongest since January and double analysts' consensus forecast of a 0.2% gain. The income increase was slightly below market expectations of 0.4%.

Consumer spending, the driver of growth in the world's biggest economy, sharply accelerated from February's meagre 0.1% gain. Household income in February had climbed 0.5% from January.

However, after adjusting for higher prices, real consumer spending was up 0.1% compared with no change in the preceding month.

And adjusted for inflation and taxes, real disposable income fell slightly - less than one tenth of a percentage point - which the Commerce Department reports as zero change, after a 0.3% increase in February real incomes.

"Consumer spending is moving sideways - but at least it hasn't yet shown the sharp declines one might have expected given the recessionary readings for consumer sentiment," said Nigel Gault, analyst at Global Insight.

Consumer confidence is declining in the face of ever-climbing food and energy prices, a slowing labour market, tightening credit and eroding household wealth as house prices drop.

On Wednesday the Commerce Department reported the economy grew at a 0.6% annual pace in the January-March period, matching the pace of the fourth quarter of 2007.

The first estimate of gross domestic product was slightly better than expected and came amid fears that the world's biggest economy is headed for recession, generally defined as two consecutive quarters of declining activity.

An inflation gauge in Thursday's consumer spending report, the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) index, showed consumer prices rose 0.3% in March, after 0.1% in February.

The core PCE reading, which excludes volatile food and energy costs, rose 0.2% March, after 0.1% in the prior month, exceeding expectations of a 0.1% rise.

The headline and core PCE increases were the largest since January.

On a 12-month basis, inflation was up 3.2% in March, after 3.4%, while core inflation edged up to 2.1%, from 2.0%.

Spending on non-durables such as gasoline was up 0.4% while services rose 0.6%.

Purchases of durable goods, big-ticket items like refrigerators and televisions, on the other hand, fell 0.4%.

After inflation adjustments, spending on non-durables and services rose 0.2% and spending on durable goods fell 0.5%.

The personal savings rate fell back to 0.2% from 0.4% in February.

[AFP]

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Bank of England says credit crunch concerns overstated
Agence France-Presse
London, U.K.
Thursday, 1 May 2008, EET

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The Bank of England in London.

The Bank of England said on Thursday that British commercial banks had overestimated their exposure to the collapsed US sub-prime home loan sector and the subsequent global squeeze on credit.

The bank did not quantify the overestimation, which it said could be a factor in a loss of confidence that has afflicted certain financial institutions.

A large number of global banks have declared heavy losses from US mortgage-backed securities, which were effectively bets placed on high-risk American borrowers repaying their mortgages.

The credit crunch erupted last August, as many sub-prime US borrowers failed to keep up with their home loan repayments, forcing major commercial banks to tighten up their lending criteria.

"Estimates of the ultimate losses to the financial system and real economy implied by current market prices are a significant overestimate," the Bank of England (BoE) said in a half-yearly report on financial stability.

"Over-pessimism about these losses may itself be denting confidence and may be delaying the return of investor risk appetite and the recovery of asset prices."

Furthermore, the BoE said that commercial banks were becoming too cautious in their lending criteria.

"The pricing of risk in credit markets seems to have swung from being unsustainably low last summer to being temporarily too high relative to fundamentals," said John Gieve, BoE deputy governor for financial stability.

Last week, the central bank had unveiled a 100-billion-dollar plan to get banks lending again in the latest attempt to combat the global credit crunch.

Under the plan, the BoE will allow high street banks to swap British mortgage-backed securities for government bonds in a bid to boost their liquidity amid stubborn and widespread fears of sub-prime exposure.

"Rising US sub-prime defaults were the trigger for a broad-based repricing of risk and de-leveraging in credit markets," the BoE said in its report.

"An adjustment was needed after the credit boom and will inevitably have costs, but it is proving even more prolonged and difficult than anticipated.

"Prices in some credit markets are likely to overstate the losses that will ultimately be felt by the financial system and the economy as a whole, as they appear to include large discounts for illiquidity and uncertainty," said the British central bank.

With some assets undervalued, investment should soon flow back into the financial sector, helping companies' balance sheets, the BoE added.

However it noted that such improvements are likely to be only gradual as uncertainty persists.

"The disruption in markets reflects, in part, structural factors such as information and incentive problems, ... (and) while this adjustment takes place, risks to financial stability remain high," the BoE warned.

[Reuters]

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S&P affirms 'AAA' rating on Singapore with stable outlook
Reuters
Singapore
Friday, 2 May 2008, Singapore Time

Standard & Poor's Ratings Services (S&P) said on Friday it affirmed its 'AAA/A-1+' sovereign credit ratings on the Republic of Singapore. The outlook is stable.

The ratings reflect Singapore's enduring fiscal and external strengths and competitive economy, while taking into account the challenges it faces as a small and open economy.

Singapore's general government surplus is estimated at 8.8% of GDP in fiscal 2007 (ended March 31, 2008) and averaged 8.0% of GDP between 2003 and 2007.

'This level of surplus, one of the highest in the world, provides strong fiscal flexibility, which is needed for structural reforms, such as the ongoing efforts to diversify the economy to be less reliant on electronics exports and to enhance cost competitiveness,' said S&P's credit analyst YeeFarn Phua.

'The ratings on Singapore are also supported by its strong record of political stability and prudent macroeconomic management,' Mr Phua said.

'The government has consistently embraced a responsible, pragmatic, and forward-looking approach to policy making.'

Given its small and open economy, Singapore is more exposed to exogenous shocks than some of its peers, albeit its medium-term growth prospects remain favorable compared with other mature developed economies.

The sound and stable financial system, which has ample liquidity, good capitalisation levels, and effective regulation, helps mitigate the potential risks from exogenous shocks.

[Boon]

Ratings has nothing to do with investment outlook for properties and very little connection to the investment prospects of assets such as stocks and properties (that's why when a financial advisor promotes a fund by saying its good because it has a AAA rating, it is totally wrong and in fact, misleading).

[Unreglstered]

Ratings has nothing to do with investment outlook for properties and very little connection to the investment prospects of assets such as stocks and properties (that's why when a financial advisor promotes a fund by saying its good because it has a AAA rating, it is totally wrong and in fact, misleading).
So ... which stock market which we short?
DJI, STI or ....?
Thanks.

[Please!]

So ... which stock market should we short?
DJI, STI or ....?
Thanks.
u asked the wrong person
boon's no longer a bear since march
he's been busy buying lately

[Forbes]

http://images.forbes.com/media/assets/forbes_home_logo.gif
A Bet On Manufacturing In The U.S.
Jean Shu-Ching Chen
Forbes
Hong Kong
Friday, 2 May 2008, 2:11 PM Hong Kong Time

Canon reckons now is the right time to expand manufacturing in the U.S., riding on the cost savings it would reap from a weak dollar.

Japan’s biggest office equipment maker said Thursday it would invest more than $600 million to expand production in the state of Virginia, adding more than 1,000 jobs to its current U.S. workforce of nearly 1,500.

Canon will build a 700,000-sqft factory in Hampton Roads, Virginia, to produce cartridges for laser printers using its proprietary high-speed, automated technology, as well as expand its repair and refurbishing facilities for digital consumer products and open a new center to develop automated and robotic manufacturing technologies.

Canon will also expand the recycling and reclaiming of toner cartridges and related materials at Industrial Resource Technologies, a Canon subsidiary in Gloucester County.

For 23 years, Canon has maintained its sole U.S. manufacturing operations in Virginia, which is close to major rail, air and port transportation on the East Coast.

The U.S. has steadily lost manufacturing jobs to overseas for decades, as evidenced by Canon’s closing of an ink-jet printing plant in 2002 in Costa Mesa, Calif. At the time, it had decided to centralize overseas ink-jet printer manufacturing in Thailand and Vietnam.

However, the sharp decline in the value of the dollar over the past few years has improved the cost-effectiveness of manufacturing in the U.S.

Canon, one of Japan's biggest exporters, has felt the pinch of a rising yen, which eats into profits repatriated from overseas. Citing the impact of a stronger yen and slowing demand from the U.S., Canon last month posted an 18% decline in net profit for the first quarter. The yen's strength also led its domestic rival Ricoh to report a 26% fall in net profit for the same period.

With nearly 80% of its sales in fiscal 2007 coming from overseas--with the U.S. and Europe contributing more than 63%-- Canon is positioned to benefit from expanding local production.

“Today’s announcement symbolizes a significant investment in manufacturing in the U.S.,” Tsuneji Uchida, Canon’s president and chief operating officer, said in a statement. “The combination of producing, selling, collecting and recycling cartridges locally, and eliminating the need to transport products around the world, will allow us to have a positive environmental impact by helping to reduce CO2 emissions worldwide.” He said Canon will benefit from local cost competitiveness, better management of labor costs and timely delivery of products.

Newport News Mayor Joe Frank lauded Canon’s expansion as “the most significant economic development project” for his city in the past two decades.

Canon’s investors were also pleased, pushing its shares up 3.2% to ¥5,410 (US$51.83) in late afternoon trading in Tokyo on Friday.

[jlrx]

Ratings has nothing to do with investment outlook for properties and very little connection to the investment prospects of assets such as stocks and properties (that's why when a financial advisor promotes a fund by saying its good because it has a AAA rating, it is totally wrong and in fact, misleading).

These funds are given AAA because they have good words in them.

For example, the Bear Stearns High-Grade Structured Credit Strategies Enhanced Leverage fund.

Don't you think it's worth AAA?

It's got good words in it ... it's got words like "High". Don't you think "High" is good? Better than "Low" anyway.

And "Structured" is not a good word?

And "Enhanced"? Won't you buy anything if it said "Enhanced"?

You can watch the "experts" explaining here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJ_qK4g6ntM

[MarketWatch]

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Nearly half of U.S. stocks are undervalued, research firm says
Mark Hulbert
MarketWatch
Annandale, Virginia, U.S.
Thursday, 1 May 2008, 11.53pm U.S. EDT

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Mark Hulbert
Hulbert Financial Digest

We're likely in the weeks and months ahead to see more of the strength that the stock market exhibited on Thursday, when the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 190 points to close above the 13,000 level for the first time since Jan. 3.

That is the implication I draw from research conducted by Ford Equity Research of San Diego. I am familiar with that firm because it also publishes the Ford Equity Research Investment Review, one of the newsletters that is tracked by the Hulbert Financial Digest. The newsletter has an impressive track record this decade, according to the HFD's calculations, having produced a 7.8% annualized return through April 30, in contrast to just 1.7% annualized for the Dow Jones Wilshire 5000 index.

For each of several thousand issues, Ford calculates a so-called price-to-value ratio, or PVA for short, which "is computed by dividing the price of a company's stock by the value derived from a proprietary intrinsic value model." According to Ford, "A PVA greater than 1.00 indicates that a company is overpriced while a PVA less than 1.00 implies that a stock is trading below the level justified by its earnings, quality rating, dividends, projected growth rate, and prevailing interest rates."

When a stock's PVA drops to a level of at or below 0.70, furthermore, Ford considers it to be "underpriced."

This is the context in which we can understand Ford's latest findings, which were sent to subscribers on Thursday morning: As of the end of April, the firm calculates that 1,783 publicly-traded U.S. stocks are underpriced according to this definition. That works out to 40% of the universe of stocks on which Ford concentrates.

That struck me as a high number, which in turn led me to wonder how the current percentage of underpriced stocks compares to other periods in stock market history. Andrew North, an equity analyst at Ford, kindly supplied me with the comparable percentages for each month-end back to the end of 1970, more than 37 years ago.

Over this nearly four-decade period, the average percentage of stocks deemed to be underpriced, by virtue of having PVAs no higher than 0.70, is 19%. That's less than half the current percentage.
That alone puts the market's current valuation in a positive light, but there's more.

It turns out that there have been only two other occasions since 1980 in which the percentage of underpriced stocks was higher than where it is today. The higher of those two points occurred at the end of the 2000-2002 bear market, when the percentage rose to 48%. The second came at the end of September 1998, in the wake of the demise of Long Term Capital Management.

Both of these prior periods came immediately before strong stock market performance, needless to say.

[Boon]

u asked the wrong person
boon's no longer a bear since march
he's been busy buying lately

(1) here we go again. some nonsensical remark. i'm still very much a bear and judging from comments i;ve read in this forum, so are many others these days

(2) my remark on ratings is merely to highlight a fact - the majority might think that just because s&p reaffirmed Singapore's AAA ratings, it means that things are all bright and rosy..a common misperception of what ratings really stand for.

[CNA]

PM Lee cautions S'poreans to prepare for economic slowdown
By Dominique Loh, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 01 May 2008 1808 hrs


PM Lee cautions S'poreans to prepare for economic slowdown

SINGAPORE : Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has cautioned Singaporeans to be prepared for a slowing economy in the next few quarters.

Speaking in Malay, Mandarin and English at the May Day Rally, Mr Lee told workers that Singapore's economy may have done well so far in 2008, but developments in the US economy may still have an impact on the country.

Mr Lee gave the stark reminder when he joined more than 1,500 workers at Labour Day celebrations.

Mr Lee said the US sub-prime crisis has spread through its banking system and beyond. While the immediate danger is over, there is still the ripple effect.

He painted three scenarios of how the US economy might affect Singapore.

The first scenario is a mild recession but with growth at the end of the year.

Second, if the US problems persist, it'll slow Singapore's growth as well, even going into 2009.

The third scenario is a severe US downturn which most analysts agree is unlikely to happen.

Mr Lee believes the first two scenarios are more likely.

"For this year, we can still achieve a 4-6 percent growth which MTI (Ministry of Trade and Industry) has projected. But remember, the 4-6 percent (growth) is for the whole year. The first quarter was good, (but for the) second, third and fourth quarters, prepare for a slowdown (which) may last into next year. This is one major uncertainty affecting our economy," said the prime minister.

"Employers and workers have to bear this in mind when you negotiate your CAs (collective agreements) this year. You have to ensure that any built-in wage increases are sustainable and if the companies are still doing well, reward the workers with higher variable bonuses, and keep it flexible," he added.

Another concern is the rising cost of living.

Mr Lee said the government had just given out the first instalment of Growth Dividends to some 2.4 million Singaporeans. The second payment is due in October.

Overall, each household can expect some S$5,000 to cope with the rising costs.

On the issue of foreign labour, PM Lee said foreign workers are willing to work longer hours to keep the airport, factories and hotels open 24 hours a day throughout the year. That gives Singapore a more competitive edge, he said, adding that keeping foreign workers away is not the answer.

"It's because we have the foreign workers here, that's why our economy has grown, that's why the employers, ...companies are here, and that's why Singaporeans have jobs. You send away the foreign workers,... a few hundred thousand (of them), Singaporeans (won't) go into those jobs, the companies will close or leave. I think the Singaporeans unemployment will go up, and hardship will go up," said PM Lee.

For those who have difficulty finding jobs, Mr Lee said there are many schemes to help them get employed. For example, the Workfare Income Supplement gave out S$300 million this year, benefiting some 300,000 low-wage workers.

More jobs are also on the horizon, with some 10,000 available at the Marina Bay Integrated Resort. - CNA /ls

[CNBC]

Friday's Jobs Report Likely To Bring More Bad News
By CNBC.com With Wires | 01 May 2008 | 04:44 PM ET

Investors are anticipating another gloomy reading on U.S. employment on Friday, though market reaction may be somewhat muted.

The Labor Department's report is expected to show a 75,000 net loss in payrolls for April--which would be the fourth straight month of losses--and a rise in unemployment to 5.2 percent from 5.1 percent in March.

In a negative sign ahead of that data, the government said Thursday the number of newly laid off workers filing claims for unemployment benefits soared by a greater-than-expected 35,000 last week.

However, stock market participants appear to believe they have already taken into account current economic weakness.

With the government sending stimulus checks out to taxpayers and Federal Reserve rate cuts still working their way through the financial system, many investors are confident the economy will rebound in the second half of the year.

"What we're seeing is that maybe the economy is not falling off a cliff, but perhaps leveling off," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at New York-based brokerage house Avalon Partners. "I think the Fed (rate-cutting campaign) is over with, even though the Fed's statement didn't say that."

The Fed lowered key interest rates by a quarter-point on Wednesday but suggested inflation is a growing concern and that the economy should keep growing moderately. The statement accompanying the Fed's rate decision was unclear about its policy going forward, but it has been widely believed that the central bank would pause following a string of cuts that lowered rates by 3 percentage points since last summer.

The dollar rose to a five-week high on Thursday on speculation the Fed may pause in cutting rates further. That pushed oil and other commodities prices sharply lower and helped stocks rally.

The rally by the dollar and stocks came despite Thursday's report that the number of workers remaining on jobless benefits climbed to a four-year high.

"After seeing an improvement trend much of April, the sudden deterioration at the end of the month is certainly disappointing," said Richard DeKaser, chief economist at National City in Cleveland, Ohio.

Initial claims for jobless benefits increased to a seasonally adjusted 380,000 in the week ended April 26, from a revised 345,000 the previous week. Analysts polled by Reuters had expected claims to rise to 360,000 from an initially reported 342,000.

The four-week moving average of new claims, a more reliable guide to underlying labor trends that irons out weekly fluctuations, fell last week to 363,750 from 370,250.

But the number of workers remaining on jobless benefits jumped to a bigger-than-expected 3.019 million in the week ended April 19. That was the highest level since April 2004.

Analysts were expecting continuing claims to rise to 2.95 million.

"The report certainly does indicate the job market is weaker, though that is not much of a surprise. There have been mass layoffs, especially on Wall Street," said Andrew Richman at Suntrust's personal asset management unit.

Adding to the gloomy jobs picture, a report from the Chicago-based Challenger Gray and Christmas showed a 19-month high in the number of planned job cuts during April and a 68 percent rise from March.

"This is the biggest job-cut month we have seen since the onset of the housing collapse," said John Challenger, who heads the job outplacement tracking firm.

[Bow Wow]

Friday's Jobs Report Likely To Bring More Bad News
By CNBC.com With Wires | 01 May 2008 | 04:44 PM ET

Investors are anticipating another gloomy reading on U.S. employment on Friday, though market reaction may be somewhat muted.

The Labor Department's report is expected to show a 75,000 net loss in payrolls for April--which would be the fourth straight month of losses--and a rise in unemployment to 5.2 percent from 5.1 percent in March.

In a negative sign ahead of that data, the government said Thursday the number of newly laid off workers filing claims for unemployment benefits soared by a greater-than-expected 35,000 last week.

However, stock market participants appear to believe they have already taken into account current economic weakness.

With the government sending stimulus checks out to taxpayers and Federal Reserve rate cuts still working their way through the financial system, many investors are confident the economy will rebound in the second half of the year.

"What we're seeing is that maybe the economy is not falling off a cliff, but perhaps leveling off," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at New York-based brokerage house Avalon Partners. "I think the Fed (rate-cutting campaign) is over with, even though the Fed's statement didn't say that."

The Fed lowered key interest rates by a quarter-point on Wednesday but suggested inflation is a growing concern and that the economy should keep growing moderately. The statement accompanying the Fed's rate decision was unclear about its policy going forward, but it has been widely believed that the central bank would pause following a string of cuts that lowered rates by 3 percentage points since last summer.

The dollar rose to a five-week high on Thursday on speculation the Fed may pause in cutting rates further. That pushed oil and other commodities prices sharply lower and helped stocks rally.

The rally by the dollar and stocks came despite Thursday's report that the number of workers remaining on jobless benefits climbed to a four-year high.

"After seeing an improvement trend much of April, the sudden deterioration at the end of the month is certainly disappointing," said Richard DeKaser, chief economist at National City in Cleveland, Ohio.

Initial claims for jobless benefits increased to a seasonally adjusted 380,000 in the week ended April 26, from a revised 345,000 the previous week. Analysts polled by Reuters had expected claims to rise to 360,000 from an initially reported 342,000.

The four-week moving average of new claims, a more reliable guide to underlying labor trends that irons out weekly fluctuations, fell last week to 363,750 from 370,250.

But the number of workers remaining on jobless benefits jumped to a bigger-than-expected 3.019 million in the week ended April 19. That was the highest level since April 2004.

Analysts were expecting continuing claims to rise to 2.95 million.

"The report certainly does indicate the job market is weaker, though that is not much of a surprise. There have been mass layoffs, especially on Wall Street," said Andrew Richman at Suntrust's personal asset management unit.

Adding to the gloomy jobs picture, a report from the Chicago-based Challenger Gray and Christmas showed a 19-month high in the number of planned job cuts during April and a 68 percent rise from March.

"This is the biggest job-cut month we have seen since the onset of the housing collapse," said John Challenger, who heads the job outplacement tracking firm.
Yes and the danger is not only from weak numbers but also food prices that could create social and political instability worldwide. It is not going to get better anytime soon. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to tell that.

[[b]Starving[/b]]

Yes and the danger is not only from weak numbers but also food prices that could create social and political instability worldwide. It is not going to get better anytime soon. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to tell that.

Food Crisis Erases Ethiopians' Gains; Health, Education at Risk

By Bill Varner and Jason McLure

May 2 (Bloomberg) -- Shagay Shanko and her husband left a struggling family farm in southern Ethiopia 12 years ago to seek work in the nation's capital. The couple found construction jobs that paid $2 a day, enough to add meat to their diet.

``It used to be good,'' Shanko, 25, said of their lives in Addis Ababa. Not any more. Soaring food prices mean they can't even afford injera, a nutritious, spongy bread that is a staple of Ethiopian cooking. Their three children eat only two meals a day, and the family relies on government-subsidized wheat to stave off hunger.

Millions of people in Ethiopia and dozens of nations from Bolivia to Indonesia were on a path out of poverty before the food crisis. Now they are at risk of backsliding amid the surge in prices for wheat and other commodities, according to the World Bank and aid groups. Vulnerable developing economies might shrink as much as 10 percent because of malnutrition and falling school attendance, a United Nations study found.

Ethiopia, where the economy last year grew by almost 10 percent after recovering from droughts and a border war with neighboring Eritrea, is one of 21 African nations that might regress. Annual inflation in Ethiopia climbed to 29.6 percent in March, the highest in more than a decade, on food costs.

Countries ``getting their economic house in order'' are at greatest risk, Divya Reddy of the Eurasia Group, a New York- based political-risk consulting firm, said in an interview. ``They face tough policy choices, such as putting reforms on hold or increasing food subsidies that compromise other budget priorities.''

Generation Imperiled

Relief officials fear that 1 billion impoverished people worldwide will be hurt for a generation as they have less to spend on medical care and education. Illnesses will spread and fewer children will attend school, according to John Holmes, the UN's emergency-aid chief.

``It is the perfect storm of rising hunger and lack of availability of food,'' Holmes said in an interview. ``It is serious, it is structural, it will last a long time, and we don't have any experience in how to deal with it.''

As many as 9 million Ethiopians in a nation of 80 million that is sub-Saharan Africa's second-most populous will need emergency food aid this year, according to the U.S. Agency for International Development. That is six times more than the 1.4 million fed last year by the Rome-based World Food Program.

Wholesale Actions

Ethiopia's government, which unlike Sudan and Angola has no oil production to offset the economic damage, is trying to lower food prices. It will cut taxes on grain sales and has opened a commodities exchange along with regional warehouses for grain and beans. The exchange may alleviate shortages by helping farmers and wholesale buyers connect.

The moves, including pay raises for government employees and fuel and food subsidies that will trim revenue by $445 million, will have a ``negative impact'' on development projects, Prime Minister Meles Zenawi told lawmakers March 18.

The spending is ``very difficult to bear for a poor country such as ours,'' Zenawi said. Education and health care are among the programs facing cuts.

In Indonesia, escalating prices for rice, soybeans, corn and palm oil may slow economic growth this year from a 2007 pace of 6.3 percent, the highest rate since 1996. Indonesians have rioted over food.

Effect on Bolivia

Bolivia, already hurt by $500 million in crop damage from floods, is seeing inflation accelerate because of food prices. While natural gas exports may help soften the blow, much of the money doesn't reach the poor, the Argentine government, speaking for countries in the region, told the International Monetary Fund last month.

Food demand from China and India is driving global prices, along with wider use of crops for fuels. Natural disasters last year reduced cereal harvests.

Surging prices might mean ``seven lost years'' in the fight against hunger, according to World Bank President Robert Zoellick. That would make the UN goal of halving global poverty by 2015 unattainable.

The crisis is evident even in the markets of Abidjan, the commercial capital of Ivory Coast in West Africa, which is benefiting from the end of a civil war and rising exports of cocoa.

Cow's feet have replaced better cuts of meat and many people eat only once a day, according to Nafissatou Ganame, a 25-year-old mother of three.

Street Protests

``This is probably the main reason why women took to the streets,'' Ganame said, referring to an April 1 demonstration that ended when government troops used tear gas to disperse protesters. ``It wasn't like that before, not in Ivory Coast.''

In Ethiopia, diminished expectations are also taking hold.

Getachew Alemu, a 27-year-old Addis Ababa taxi driver, said he used to save some money from fares. That's no longer possible now that bakers are skimping on flour, forcing him to buy three bread loaves to get the nutrition one used to provide, he said.

``The government is claiming the economy is growing,'' Alemu said. ``What does it mean to grow? We are working just for food.''

[Bow Wow]

Yes when all the money would be diverted to buy food....if we can find food.

[Bow Wow]

U.K. House Prices Posted First Annual Drop Since 1996

By Svenja O'Donnell

May 2 (Bloomberg) -- U.K. house prices fell in April from a year earlier, the first annual decline since 1996, after the credit market squeeze prompted mortgage lenders to raise interest rates, a HBOS Plc report showed.

The cost of an average home declined 0.9 percent to 189,027 pounds ($373,082) in the three months through April from a year earlier, the U.K.'s biggest mortgage lender said in a statement on the Regulatory News Service today. That was the first annual drop in HBOS's index since February 1996. Prices fell 1.3 percent from March, when they declined 2.5 percent, the most in 16 years.

The report adds to evidence Britain's worst housing slump since the end of the last recession is deepening as lenders tighten credit standards. Mortgage approvals fell to the lowest level since at least 1999 in March and HBOS said faster inflation is making it harder for potential buyers to afford new homes.

``The decline in prices is driven by a squeeze on spending power and the rapid rise in house prices in the last few years,'' HBOS said in a statement. The mortgage lender said it expects a ``mid-single-digit percentage decline'' in prices this year.

The pound rose 0.5 percent to 77.91 pence per euro today and climbed to $1.9838 against the dollar.

Values in regions such as Wales and the West Midlands may fall more than the U.K. average, while homes in Scotland are likely to record ``modest price rises,'' HBOS said.

Faster Pace

Bank of England policy maker David Blanchflower said April 29 house prices may fall 33 percent in the next three years. While the central bank has cut its benchmark rate three times since December, higher interbank lending costs have prompted HBOS and other mortgage lenders to withdraw their best offers.

``Housing market data have clearly deteriorated at a faster pace over the last few weeks, with lenders continuing to raise mortgage interest rate spreads and cut back on credit availability,'' said Nick Bate, an economist at Merrill Lynch & Co. in London. That's ``raising the risks of a more protracted downturn than we previously envisaged.'' [/size]

Persimmon Plc, the U.K.'s largest homebuilder by market value, on April 24 said it postponed construction on new sites after a drop in sales and an increase in cancellations. Hometrack Ltd. said April 28 it's measure of house prices fell 0.6 percent from March, the biggest decline in more than three years.

Falling Stocks

Property-related stocks have plunged since credit markets seized up in August. Bradford & Bingley Plc, the U.K.'s biggest lender to landlords, has dropped 60 percent; shares of HBOS and Persimmon have both dropped around 50 percent in the period.

Blanchflower said this week his colleagues they need to take ``aggressive action'' to stave off a potential recession. The central bank is expected to keep its benchmark rate unchanged at 5 percent on May 8, according to the median forecast of 30 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News.

The National Institute of Economic and Social Research today cut its growth forecast and now expects the economy to expand 1.8 percent this year, down from the 2 percent it predicted in January. That would match the slowest pace since 1992.

The Bank of England on April 21 offered to help financial institutions by offering to swap government bonds for mortgage securities to boost banks' liquidity. Governor Mervyn King pledged to meet demand even if it exceeds an estimate of 50 billion pounds ($99 billion.)

King said this week policy makers face a ``difficult balancing act'' as they seek to shore up growth, while trying to curb inflation, which he forecast may breach the government's upper limit of 3 percent.

Higher energy and food costs threaten to stoke inflation further. Oil prices have doubled in the last five years, reaching a record $119.93 on April 28. Rice has more than doubled in the past year to a record $25.07 per 100 pounds April 24.

[The Straits Times]

http://www.straitstimes.com/STI/STIMEDIA/common/mast_home.gif
STI Closes Higher
The Straits Times
Friday, 2 May 2008

Singapore shares ended higher on Friday with the benchmark Straits Times Index up 88.31 points or 2.73% to 3,236.10.
Up to 1.4 billion shares exchanged hands.

Gainers outweighed losers 433 to 234.

[The Straits Times]

http://www.straitstimes.com/STI/STIMEDIA/common/mast_home.gif
Asian shares jump after Wall St rally
The Straits Times
Friday, 2 May 2008

Tokyo

Japanese share prices closed up 2.05% at the highest level in almost four months on Friday after overnight gains on Wall Street and a weakening of the yen, dealers said.

The benchmark Nikkei-225 index rose 282.40 points to 14,049.26, the best finish since Jan 11. The broader Topix index of all first-section shares advanced 31.29 points or 2.32% to 1,377.39.

Markets in Japan will be closed on Monday and Tuesday.

Kuala Lumpur

Hong Kong share prices closed higher on Friday, up 1.89%, following Wall Street's overnight gains as concerns eased over the US economy and oil prices fell further, dealers said.

The Hang Seng index closed up 485.67 points at 26,241.02, off a low of 26,173.82 and a high of 26,374.09.

Turnover was 89.06 billion Hong Kong dollars (S$13.6 billion).

Hong Kong

Hong Kong share prices ended the morning session higher on Friday, up 1.9%, on the back of encouraging US economic data and the Federal Reserve's key interest rate cut, dealers said.

The Hang Seng Index ended the session up 493.25 points at 26,248.60. Turnover was HK$50.32 billion (S$8.8 billion).

Local banks and properties led the rally after the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) also lowered its base rate by 25 basis points to 3.50%, in line with the Fed move.

HKMA works in tandem with the Fed on rate decisions as the local currency is pegged to the greenback.

[Boon]

it's increasingly hard to be bullish in this current global environment. Yes i do agree that the global economy is so much more resilient versus where it stood a few years ago. But under the pressure of a slowdown in major economies, record high oil and commodity prices, sharp declines in asset markets worldwide, disfunctional financial markets etc - despite being at its strongest level in history - the world economy is facing the threat of suffering its "worst recession in 30 years" a very probable albeit not the baseline for now. if not for the fact that we have so much liquidity in the system and China, we would be in a great depression by now - and i am not joking. And these same factors are also fanning a false sense of hope as it slows the present deterioration. not trying to be alarmist (people accused me of being alarmist when i said the sub prime problem would spread to what it is today) just sharing my views as usual.

[Unreglstered]

http://www.straitstimes.com/Prime%2BNews/Story/STIStory_232795.html

May 1, 2008

PM upbeat about S'pore economy

He is confident Singapore will be able to weather uncertain global outlook

By Sue-Ann Chia


SINGAPORE is sailing into choppier waters amid uncertainty in the global economy, but Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong is confident of Singapore's economic prospects.

In his annual May Day message, Mr Lee sketched out the uncertain outlook due to the financial crisis in the United States.

But he maintained: 'However the US financial problems play out, I am confident of our ability to cope...our economic fundamentals are sound and we are in a strong position.'

Buoyant industries such as tourism, construction and marine engineering will buffer Singapore from the effects of a US recession, he said.

The economy is still on track to grow by 4 per cent to 6 per cent this year. The job market is also expected to be full of jobs chasing workers.

'In both manufacturing and services, many vacancies are waiting to be filled,' the Prime Minister said.

Latest job figures released yesterday buttress this point.

They show that a record 68,400 jobs were added to the economy in the first three months of the year, exceeding the 62,500 jobs created in the previous quarter and 49,400 in the same quarter last year.

Still, despite the job boom, the unemployment rate climbed from 1.7 per cent in December to 2 per cent in March.

HSBC Bank economist Robert Prior-Wandesforde attributed this phenomenon to an expanding pool of job seekers, possibly a result of more foreigners seeking jobs here.

In his speech, Mr Lee also urged workers and employers to aim for 'sustainable' wage changes this year, in anticipation of a year ahead that will be 'much more challenging' than 2007 had been.

'Realistic settlements will address the concerns of workers, and yet allow companies to respond quickly to sudden changes in the economic environment,' he said.

For now, the economy is still doing well although 'dark storm clouds have gathered'.

Pointing to the sub-prime mortgage loan crisis in the United States, Mr Lee said: 'We must watch closely how the situation in the US unfolds, and be ready to respond if things take a turn for the worse.'

Addressing the hot issue of rising inflation, Mr Lee said Singapore cannot shield itself completely from this worldwide phenomenon.

But the strong Singapore dollar has helped to maintain the purchasing power of workers' salaries, he noted.

The Prime Minister also assured the people about the food situation here.

Singapore has enough supplies of food, notably rice, and 'we can buy what we need from many sources', he said.

Also, help will be given to those struggling to cope with the higher cost of living.

Relief measures from the Government total $3 billion, ranging in form from tax rebates and Medisave top-ups to the GST offset package and Growth Dividends given to every Singaporean from the last Budget surplus.

The first payout of the Growth Dividends was yesterday, with a second due on Oct 1.

Noting that Singapore's strength is the strong cooperation among unions, employers and the Government, Mr Lee said this enabled them to take a 'rational approach' and act in Singapore's collective best interest.

PM Lee added: 'The external turbulence will put our solidarity under stress.

'But we must not end up arguing among ourselves, or, worse, quarrelling over how to divide what we have, or else we will all be worse off.'

[email protected]
No wonder shares surged more than 2% today.

[Unregistered.]

http://www.afp.com/english/home/imgs/logo.gif
US stocks rally on stronger dollar, falling oil prices
Agence France-Presse
New York, New York
Thursday, 1 May 2008, U.S. EDT

US stocks rallied sharply on Thursday amid a strengthening dollar, falling oil prices and as investors looked forward to an apparent pause in the Federal Reserve's aggressive rate-cutting campaign.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average shot up 189.87 points or 1.48% to close at 13,010.00.

It was the first time the blue-chip index ended a session above 13,000 since January 3.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite rose 67.91 points or 2.81% to 2,480.71 and the broad-market Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500 index advanced a hefty 23.75 points or 1.71% to close at 1,409.34, above the 1,400-mark for the first time since January 14.

'May is off to a strong start,' Briefing.com analysts wrote in a note to clients.

Despite the Federal Reserve's quarter-point interest rate cut on Wednesday, taking its benchmark rate to 2.0%, the dollar gained ground against the euro, trading around US$1.54 (S$2.01) to a euro.

The stronger dollar in turn helped pressure oil prices, which fell to US$112 a barrel in New York, easing concerns about rising inflationary pressures.

The greenback also was lifted by the Fed's statement explaining the rate decision, which many analysts said signaled a halt in its rate cutting and prospects that the worst of a global credit crisis may be ending.

'The Fed's decision should bolster confidence that the worst of the credit crisis is finally passing, although it is still far from finished,' said Frederic Dickson, analyst at DA Davidson & Co.

Economic reports offered a mixed outlook on the economy's direction amid fears the economy is heading into recession, generally defined two consecutive quarters of contraction.

The Commerce Department on Wednesday reported the economy sputtered at a meager 0.6% pace in the first quarter, for the second quarter in a row.

Consumer spending in March rose much more sharply than expected, but most of the gain was due to higher prices, particularly for food and energy, the Commerce Department said.

Economists closely watch consumer spending, which accounts for two-thirds of economic growth, as a bellwether on GDP growth.

Among stocks in focus, ExxonMobil slid 3.62% to US$89.70 after reporting its first-quarter profit rose 17% from a year ago to US$10.89 billion, below Wall Street forecasts.

Home improvement retailer Home Depot, hit hard by the housing slump, jumped 3.72% to US$29.87 after it said it was scaling back its chain of stores in the United States.

Ford Motor shares gained 2.66% at 8.48 despite reporting a steep decline in US sales. Rival General Motors, which also saw sales slide, slipped 0.04% to 23.19.
So US stocks are climbing, US dollars is strengthening and oil price is dropping now? This is good right?
DJI is at 13,000 now. Let's await 16,000.

[Unregisteredª]

Wah! The 999LH Aston Residence at Jalan Loyang Besar is hot man!
Launched during last Saturday, 26 April 2008, 10 of these 28 strata bungalows have been snapped up. They cost between $2.68M - $2.75M each.

.. you know Ambrosia??
.. the penthouses all snapped up recently ..

.. people are very rich ..
.. money is not an issue ..
URA reports 2 units of the 15-unit Shelford Suites sold in March at record prices for the Shelford area - $$1,869psf and $1,905psf.
March is the U-turn point.

[BOW WOW]

http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/sub/news/story/0,4574,276166,00.html?

Published April 23, 2008

Landed plots fetch 22% less at URA auction

By EMILYN YAP


LANDED-HOUSING sites at Sembawang were sold yesterday at prices 22 per cent lower on average than nearby plots a few months ago. Yesterday's auction by the Urban Redevelopment Authority was for 11 plots with 99-year leasehold tenure. All were sold - for a total of $45.29 million, or $223 per sq ft (psf) on average.

The plots come under phase two of Sembawang Greenvale estate. URA sold the 12 plots in nearby phase one in October last year for about $285 psf on average. Smaller developers and individuals turned up yesterday to bid for the phase two plots, which can be developed into 90 dwellings - one bungalow, 16 semi-detached houses and 73 terraced houses.

Fragrance Homes reaped the biggest harvest, winning four plots that can house eight semi-detached houses and 40 terraced houses. The largest plot, in Penaga Place, designated for 18 terraced houses across 35,624 sq ft, cost Fragrance $8.7 million or $244 psf. This was the highest psf price for any of the 11 plots.

Odeon Properties' $1.66 million bid for a plot in Kerong Lane represented the lowest psf price of $151. The 10,989 sq ft site can accommodate one bungalow and two semi-detached houses. Reflecting the better market last year, prices on a psf basis in phase one ranged from a higher $210 to $327 psf.

The only individual to submit a wining bid yesterday, Christina Sui Fong Fong, bought the third-largest land parcel for $6.65 million or $221 psf.

Asked about plans to release more landed-housing parcels, URA's director of land administration Choy Chan Pong said: 'We will be releasing according to market demand.'
WAH SO MUCH FALL SO SOON? TUMBLING DOWN? BETTER INVEST IN RICE.

[BOW WOW]

So US stocks are climbing, US dollars is strengthening and oil price is dropping now? This is good right?
DJI is at 13,000 now. Let's await 16,000.
YESSS EVERYONE SELLING PROPERTY AND PUTTING IN STOCKS. SOON 20000.

[obt]

Japanese banks see 14.4 bln dlrs in subprime losses: report


Japanese financial institutions together lost more than 1.5 trillion yen (14.4 billion dollars) in the year to March because of the US subprime mortgage crisis, a report said Friday.

The nation's eight major banking groups alone are likely to post a combined subprime-related loss of more than 900 billion yen, the Nikkei newspaper said.


That is around 200 billion yen more than forecasts made public so far, it added.

"While this is less than the losses incurred by their European and US counterparts, it has still dealt a major blow to Japanese banks' profit forecasts," the Nikkei said.

One of those eight, Mizuho Financial Group Inc., will post subprime losses likely to top 565 billion yen, highlighting how banks widely involved in such investments are set to pay the price, the paper added.

Brokerage house Nomura Holdings Inc. and Norinchukin Bank saw losses grow heading into the end of this fiscal year 2007, the newspaper said.

Aioi Insurance Co. and Sompo Japan Insurance Inc. booked 83.6 billion yen and around 30 billion yen respectively in losses.

The burden created by subprime losses is likely to delay the institutions' expansion into investment banking and overseas businesses, the Nikkei said.

[Unregistereb]

YESSS EVERYONE SELLING PROPERTY AND PUTTING IN STOCKS. SOON 20000.
Maddog, you have a new nick - BOW WOW?

[Unregistereb]

WAH SO MUCH FALL SO SOON? TUMBLING DOWN? BETTER INVEST IN RICE.
Maddog, now is May, why post April news? Why not post 2007 news?

[AP]

http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/us/fi/gr/partner_logos/ap2_170x33.gif
Employers cut fewer jobs in April, jobless rate falls to 5%
Jeannine Aversa
Economics Writer
Associated Press
Washington, D.C., U.S.
Friday, 2 May 2008, 9:57am U.S. EDT

Employers cut far fewer jobs in April than in recent months and the unemployment rate dropped to 5%, a better-than-expected showing that nonetheless still revealed strains in the nation's crucial labor market.

For the fourth month in a row, the economy lost jobs, the Labor Department reported Friday. But in April the losses totaled 20,000, an improvement from the 81,000 reductions in payrolls logged in March. Job losses for both February and March turned out to be a bit deeper than previously reported.

The latest snapshot of the nationwide employment conditions -- while clearly still weak -- was better than many economists were anticipating. They were bracing for job cuts of 75,000 and for the unemployment rate to climb to 5.2%.

The unemployment rate, derived from a different statistical survey than the payroll figures, fell to 5% from 5.1% in March. That survey showed more people finding employment than those who didn't.

Businesses are handing out pink slips as they cope with an economy that is teetering on the edge of a recession, or possibly in one already. A severe housing slump, harder-to-get credit and financial turmoil have forced people and businesses to be more cautious in their spending. And that has hurt the economy.

To help relieve credit problems, the Federal Reserve announced Friday that it would boost the availability of short-term loans to commercial banks to $150 billion in May from the $100 billion supplied in April. The goal is to supply a source of cash to squeezed banks so that they'll keep lending to customers.

The Fed took the action and several other moves to boost credit in coordination with the European Central Bank and the Swiss National Bank.

On the jobs front, construction companies slashed 61,000 positions in April. Manufacturers cut 46,000 and retailers got rid of 27,000. Those losses were eclipsed by job gains in education and health care, professional and business services, the government and elsewhere.

The job losses came in areas hardest hit by the housing and credit debacles. The fact that fewer job cuts were ordered in April raised hopes that damages could be limited.

Voters are keenly worried about the country's economic problems and so are politicians -- in Congress, in the White House and on the campaign trail.

Workers with jobs saw scant wage gains.

Average hourly earnings for jobholders rose to $17.88 in April, a tiny 0.1% rise from the previous month. That was less than the 0.3% rise economists were forecasting. Over the last 12 months, wages have grown by 3.4%.

The weak labor market is making employers feel less generous with compensation.

Meanwhile, zooming energy and food prices are taking a bite out of paychecks. If the job market continues to falter, wage growth probably will slow, too, making people even less inclined to spend. That would spell further trouble for the economy.

The payrolls figure and the unemployment rate come from two different statistical surveys, which can provide -- as in Friday's case -- a somewhat conflicting picture of what is happening in the labor market.

The seasonally adjusted overall civilian unemployment rate -- 5% in April -- is based on a survey of 60,000 households. It showed that 362,000 people said they found employment last month, outpacing the number of people who couldn't find work.

Economists tend to put more stock, however, in the much broader business survey of 400,000 work sites that is used to calculate the payroll figures.

To limit the damage, the Federal Reserve lowered interest rates on Wednesday, but signaled that its rate-cutting campaign could be drawing to a close.

Fed officials and the Bush administration are hoping that the Fed's aggressive rate cuts since September plus the government's $168 billion stimulus package -- including tax rebates that started hitting bank accounts this week -- will lift the country out of its slump in the second half of this year.

Even if that happens, economists predict the unemployment rate will climb higher, hitting 6% early next year.

Employers often are reluctant to beef up hiring until they feel certain that any such recovery has staying power.

Democrats in Congress insist more relief needs to be provided, including additional unemployment benefits to cushion the pain of joblessness. The administration has resisted, saying the rebates and other stimulative efforts should be sufficient once they fully kick in.

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and his colleagues acknowledged Wednesday the fragile state of the economy, saying hiring conditions "have softened further."

The economy advanced at a snail's pace of just 0.6% in the first three months of this year as people and businesses clamped down on their spending. It marked the second quarter in a row of such feeble growth.

A growing number of economists believe the economy is in a recession and is indeed contracting now.

Under one rough rule, if the economy contracts for six straight months it is considered to be in a recession. That didn't happen in the last recession -- in 2001-- though. A panel of experts at the National Bureau of Economic Research that determines when U.S. recessions begin and end uses a broader definition, taking into account income, employment and other barometers. That finding is usually made well after the fact.

[AP]

http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/us/fi/gr/partner_logos/ap2_170x33.gif
Stocks jump higher after better-than-expected payroll report,
Fed's "Europe" move to boost liquidity
Tim Paradis
Economics Writer
Associated Press
New York, New York, U.S.
Friday, 2 May 2008, 9:58am U.S. EDT

Wall Street extended its advance Friday after a government employment report showed the nation's employers cut far fewer jobs than expected last month, stirring optimism about the buoyancy of the economy.

The better-than-expected report comes days after the Federal Reserve lowered interest rates by a quarter point and signaled that it could stand pat at future meetings -- a move that could help shore up an anemic dollar and combat worrisome inflation.

The Labor Department's report that employers cut 20,000 jobs in April was a relief to Wall Street, which had been expecting payrolls to decrease by 70,000 jobs. This marked the fourth straight month of job losses, but the data signaled that perhaps the economy might be resisting falling into recession.

Meanwhile, the Fed said Friday it will work with European central banks to expand a series of efforts to deal with the global credit crisis. The central bank will boost the amount of emergency reserves it supplies to U.S. banks to $150 billion in May, up from the $100 billion it supplied in April.

In the first hour of trading, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 85.90, or 0.66%, to 13,095.90.

Broader stock indicators also rose. The Standard & Poor's 500 index advanced 8.01, or 0.57%, to 1,417.35, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 4.95, or 0.20%, to 2,485.66.

Stocks surged Thursday as investors viewed the rising dollar and falling oil prices as promising signs for the economy. The Dow soared nearly 190 points to close above 13,000 for the first time since Jan. 3.

Bond prices fell Friday as investors moved into stocks from the safety of government debt. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, rose to 3.84% from 3.77% late Thursday.

Oil prices moved higher after retreating Thursday on a strengthening dollar. Light, sweet crude rose $1.41 to $113.93 a barrel in premarket electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by about 2 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to 148.8 million shares.

Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average rose 2.05%. In afternoon trading, Britain's FTSE 100 rose 1.72%, Germany's DAX index added 1.67%, and France's CAC-40 rose 1.74%.

[jlrx]

Unregistered
Wah! The 999LH Aston Residence at Jalan Loyang Besar is hot man!
Launched during last Saturday, 26 April 2008, 10 of these 28 strata bungalows have been snapped up. They cost between $2.68M - $2.75M each.

Unregistered
.. you know Ambrosia??
.. the penthouses all snapped up recently ..

.. people are very rich ..
.. money is not an issue ..

URA reports 2 units of the 15-unit Shelford Suites sold in March at record prices for the Shelford area - $$1,869psf and $1,905psf.
March is the U-turn point.

It's not that "people are very rich".

It's that the rich people are getting richer and richer. So proportionately, the cost of the homes they buy becomes relatively more affordable.

I can't imagine now even places like Loyang at Pasir Ris are selling for $2.68 m to $2.75 m.

Looks like my dog Millie :millie: will never be able to stay in any form of bungalow, whether strata or otherwise. :(

So I have no choice but to use my imagination again. Below I imagine I'm staying at Aston Residence and that's my dog Millie licking my car as I drive out of the driveway which goes under the pool.

That sounds familiar doesn't it? Another Strata Bungalow Chateau La Salle also has the same concept. Somehow I feel Chateau La Salle looks nicer. More European style and cosy, but also costs more - $3.3 million.

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn211/jlrx_bucket/Aston.gif

[Showroom Hopper]

Wah! The 999LH Aston Residence at Jalan Loyang Besar is hot man!
Launched during last Saturday, 26 April 2008, 10 of these 28 strata bungalows have been snapped up. They cost between $2.68M - $2.75M each.

.. you know Ambrosia??
.. the penthouses all snapped up recently ..

.. people are very rich ..
.. money is not an issue ..

URA reports 2 units of the 15-unit Shelford Suites sold in March at record prices for the Shelford area - $$1,869psf and $1,905psf.
March is the U-turn point.

It's not that "people are very rich".

It's that the rich people are getting richer and richer. So proportionately, the cost of the homes they buy becomes relatively more affordable.

I can't imagine now even places like Loyang at Pasir Ris are selling for $2.68 m to $2.75 m.

Looks like my dog Millie :millie: will never be able to stay in any form of bungalow, whether strata or otherwise. :(

So I have no choice but to use my imagination again. Below I imagine I'm staying at Aston Residence and that's my dog Millie licking my car as I drive out of the driveway which goes under the pool.

That sounds familiar doesn't it? Another Strata Bungalow Chateau La Salle also has the same concept. Somehow I feel Chateau La Salle looks nicer. More European style and cosy, but also costs more - $3.3 million.

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn211/jlrx_bucket/Aston.gif
Went to Aston Residence on 1 May 2008. Another 3 sold.

[jlrx]

Went to Aston Residence on 1 May 2008. Another 3 sold.

Wow! Selling like hot cakes at $2.7 million each! :eek:

I think these landed/strata bungalows are usually bought by end users rather than speculators.

The window of opportunity of ever owning a bungalow in Singapore is fast disappearing.

I think it is now or never.

I'm afraid that the future divide is not going to be between the high earners and low earners, but between the bungalow dwellers vs the rest of the population.

Looks like I'm going to be on the wrong side of the divide, and my poor dog Millie. :millie:

[Unregistereb]

Friday May 2, 9:15 AM
ADB to meet amid food crisis, growing poverty

The Asian Development Bank holds its annual meeting this weekend reeling from a global food crisis that has led to stinging criticism of its international governors for failing to see it coming.

The soaring price of basic foods such as rice -- the benchmark Thai variety now fetches some 1,000 dollars a tonne, up threefold on a year ago -- has led to a supply crunch that is worrying governments wary of popular unrest.

There are other tough issues facing the bank, notably a simmering internal row among its members over its continuing relevance in a region that has been transformed since the lender was founded 42 years ago.

The United States, which with Japan is the ADB's largest shareholder, took the unprecedented recent step of voting against its long-term strategic plan, which is also on the agenda for the meeting in Spain's capital Madrid.

But a source within the bank, who asked not to be named, said: "While the bank faces a number of critical issues about its role and relevance, all this may be overshadowed by the food crisis."

ADB president Haruhiko Kuroda warned recently that soaring food prices had pushed back Asia's fight against poverty, and that some countries may one day need foreign aid to feed their hungry.

The rises are blamed on higher energy and fertiliser costs, greater global demand, droughts, the loss of rice farmland to biofuel plantations and price speculation.

"The food crisis did not happen overnight," said Shalmali Guttal, a senior associate at Focus on the Global South, a Bangkok-based political and economic advocacy group.

"Asian farmers have been drawing attention to the growing agrarian crisis for years, but no one with the power to change policy listened," she told AFP in a telephone interview.

"Many of us civil society researchers and activists saw this crisis coming, why didn't the ADB and the World Bank?"

While the ADB boasts some "spectacular progress" over the last 40 years in poverty reduction, most notably in China, the region is still home to some 600 million people living on less than a dollar a day -- two thirds of the global population.

"Agriculture has clearly been neglected by governments and international institutions alike for at least two decades and the world is now suffering the results of such neglect," Bruce Tolentino, director for economic reform and development with the Asia Foundation, told AFP.

He said the ADB and others "should have seen this crisis coming."

"But unfortunately it is a weakness common to many institutions, including the ADB, that the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing and vice versa."

Based in Manila, the ADB is owned by its 67 member countries -- 48 from the Asia-Pacific region, and 19 from elsewhere around the world.

In 2007, it approved 10.1 billion dollars of loans, 673 million dollars in grant projects, and technical assistance amounting to 243 million.

Since it was established, the ADB has grown from helping Asian governments develop infrastructure projects to promoting the role of the private sector in development.

But some critics say its loan conditions unfairly pressure governments to deregulate and privatize agriculture -- leading to problems such as the rice supply crunch.

Arze Glipo, the convenor of the Asia Pacific Network on Food Sovereignty, which represents farmers' groups, said ADB projects "tended to weaken farmers' livelihood."

She cited a 175-million-dollar loan to the Philippines to finance a grain sector development programme, under which the ADB urged the privatization of the National Food Authority.

The ADB also wanted restrictions on rice imports replaced with a system of tariffs, and cancelled the loan when Manila failed to act, she charged.

That kind of tactic -- "regardless of its costs and consequences" -- is at the very heart of the problem, said Guttal of Focus on the Global South, as it forced governments to change policies to fit in with the ADB's conditions for credits.

"The new policies favour large, mostly foreign, private sector actors and corporations and not the poor," she added.

[Unregistereb]

U.S. Probably Lost Jobs in April, Unemployment Rose

By Courtney Schlisserman

May 2 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. probably lost jobs in April for a fourth month and the unemployment rate rose as economic growth stalled, economists said before a government report today.

Payrolls shrank by 75,000 workers after decreasing by 80,000 in March, according to the median estimate of 82 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News before the Labor Department's report. The jobless rate rose to a three-year high of 5.2 percent, the survey also showed.

The economy is on the brink of a recession as soaring fuel prices and the collapse in housing cause consumers and businesses to retrench. Americans may continue to rein in spending as wages stagnate, property values fall and credit remains scarce, indicating hiring will continue to slump.

``Businesses are getting very cautious,'' Michael Gregory, a senior economist at BMO Capital Markets in Toronto, said before the report. ``They're going to wait to see consumers start coming back before you start to see hiring again. We're in a little bit of a vicious circle.''

The rate on the 10-year Treasury bond was little changed at 3.76 percent as of 12:18 p.m. in London. It fell 11 basis points this week, the first decline since the period ended March 21. A basis point is 0.01 percentage point.

The dollar was also little changed, trading at $1.5463 per euro and 105 yen.

Streak of Declines

The report is due at 8:30 a.m. in Washington. Payroll estimates in the Bloomberg survey ranged from declines of 150,000 to 18,000. A fourth consecutive drop would be the longest string of decreases since the start of the Iraq War in 2003.

Forecasts for the unemployment rate ranged from 5 percent to 5.3 percent, according to the Bloomberg survey.

Another report today is projected to show factory orders rose 0.2 percent in March, according to economists surveyed, reflecting a jump in raw-materials costs that inflated demand for non-durable goods like petroleum. The Commerce Department is scheduled to release the report at 10 a.m.

Federal Reserve policy makers this week lowered the benchmark overnight lending rate between banks by a quarter percentage point, to 2 percent, in a bid to revive the economy. The government also started sending out tax rebate checks that were part of its fiscal stimulus plan.

Fed Statement

``Household and business spending has been subdued and labor markets have softened further,'' the central bank said April 30 in announcing its decision. It also said that the easing that has taken place since last year, along with efforts to stabilize financial markets ``should help to promote growth over time.''

The U.S. economy expanded at a 0.6 percent annual pace in the first quarter, the Commerce Department said on April 30, as inventories increased because consumer spending slowed and business investment dropped. The rise in stockpiles, along with the smallest gain in household spending in seven years, indicates the economy will weaken further in coming months.

[b][color='red']``There is no end in sight to the economic slump,'' Joshua Shapiro, chief U.S. economist at Maria Fiorini Ramirez Inc. in New York, said in a note to clients following the gross domestic product report.

Construction firms and financial-service companies have been among the hardest hit by the drop in housing, which is now in its third year. Wall Street banks and securities firms, reeling from $309 billion in mortgage losses and writedowns, have slashed 48,000 jobs in the past 10 months, according to the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association.

Job Cuts

Merrill Lynch & Co., the third-biggest U.S. securities firm, said April 17 it would cut about 3,000 more jobs after the credit-market crisis forced it to write down some $6.5 billion in debt.

Job losses have started to ripple to other areas of the economy as spending sags. The payroll report for March showed retailers, transportation firms and temporary-help agencies reduced staff.

The Institute for Supply Management said yesterday that its factory employment index dropped to the lowest level since May 2003. The group is scheduled to release results on non- manufacturing next week.

Economists forecast manufacturing payrolls declined by 35,000 last month, according to the survey median. Factories lost 48,000 jobs in March.

General Motors Corp., the world's largest automaker, this week said it's cutting production of large pickup trucks and sport-utility vehicles this year at four plants in the U.S. and Canada because of slowing sales. The plan affects 3,550 workers.

[pRoPhEt]

U.S. Probably Lost Jobs in April, Unemployment Rose

By Courtney Schlisserman

May 2 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. probably lost jobs in April for a fourth month and the unemployment rate rose as economic growth stalled, economists said before a government report today.

Payrolls shrank by 75,000 workers after decreasing by 80,000 in March, according to the median estimate of 82 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News before the Labor Department's report. The jobless rate rose to a three-year high of 5.2 percent, the survey also showed. [/size]

The economy is on the brink of a recession as soaring fuel prices and the collapse in housing cause consumers and businesses to retrench. Americans may continue to rein in spending as wages stagnate, property values fall and credit remains scarce, indicating hiring will continue to slump.

``Businesses are getting very cautious,'' Michael Gregory, a senior economist at BMO Capital Markets in Toronto, said before the report. ``They're going to wait to see consumers start coming back before you start to see hiring again. We're in a little bit of a vicious circle.''

The rate on the 10-year Treasury bond was little changed at 3.76 percent as of 12:18 p.m. in London. It fell 11 basis points this week, the first decline since the period ended March 21. A basis point is 0.01 percentage point.

The dollar was also little changed, trading at $1.5463 per euro and 105 yen.

Streak of Declines

The report is due at 8:30 a.m. in Washington. Payroll estimates in the Bloomberg survey ranged from declines of 150,000 to 18,000. A fourth consecutive drop would be the longest string of decreases since the start of the Iraq War in 2003.

Forecasts for the unemployment rate ranged from 5 percent to 5.3 percent, according to the Bloomberg survey.

Another report today is projected to show factory orders rose 0.2 percent in March, according to economists surveyed, reflecting a jump in raw-materials costs that inflated demand for non-durable goods like petroleum. The Commerce Department is scheduled to release the report at 10 a.m.

Federal Reserve policy makers this week lowered the benchmark overnight lending rate between banks by a quarter percentage point, to 2 percent, in a bid to revive the economy. The government also started sending out tax rebate checks that were part of its fiscal stimulus plan.

Fed Statement

``Household and business spending has been subdued and labor markets have softened further,'' the central bank said April 30 in announcing its decision. It also said that the easing that has taken place since last year, along with efforts to stabilize financial markets ``should help to promote growth over time.''

The U.S. economy expanded at a 0.6 percent annual pace in the first quarter, the Commerce Department said on April 30, as inventories increased because consumer spending slowed and business investment dropped. The rise in stockpiles, along with the smallest gain in household spending in seven years, indicates the economy will weaken further in coming months.

[color='red']``There is no end in sight to the economic slump,'' Joshua Shapiro, chief U.S. economist at Maria Fiorini Ramirez Inc. in New York, said in a note to clients following the gross domestic product report.

Construction firms and financial-service companies have been among the hardest hit by the drop in housing, which is now in its third year. Wall Street banks and securities firms, reeling from $309 billion in mortgage losses and writedowns, have slashed 48,000 jobs in the past 10 months, according to the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association.

Job Cuts

Merrill Lynch & Co., the third-biggest U.S. securities firm, said April 17 it would cut about 3,000 more jobs after the credit-market crisis forced it to write down some $6.5 billion in debt.

Job losses have started to ripple to other areas of the economy as spending sags. The payroll report for March showed retailers, transportation firms and temporary-help agencies reduced staff.

The Institute for Supply Management said yesterday that its factory employment index dropped to the lowest level since May 2003. The group is scheduled to release results on non- manufacturing next week.

Economists forecast manufacturing payrolls declined by 35,000 last month, according to the survey median. Factories lost 48,000 jobs in March.

General Motors Corp., the world's largest automaker, this week said it's cutting production of large pickup trucks and sport-utility vehicles this year at four plants in the U.S. and Canada because of slowing sales. The plan affects 3,550 workers.
THIS IS GETTING WORSE BY THE DAY. NO RESPITE FROM THE IMPENDING CRISIS ESPECIALLY FOOD AS MENTIONED IN 'The REVELATION'.(REV. 6:6)THE 'TIMES' ARE HERE. NO PLACE TO HIDE. THE WRITING IS ON THE WALL. HE WHO HAS AN EAR LET HIM HEAR

[Unregistered▒]

U.S. Probably Lost Jobs in April, Unemployment Rose

By Courtney Schlisserman

May 2 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. probably lost jobs in April for a fourth month and the unemployment rate rose as economic growth stalled, economists said before a government report today.

Payrolls shrank by 75,000 workers after decreasing by 80,000 in March, according to the median estimate of 82 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News before the Labor Department's report. The jobless rate rose to a three-year high of 5.2 percent, the survey also showed.

The economy is on the brink of a recession as soaring fuel prices and the collapse in housing cause consumers and businesses to retrench. Americans may continue to rein in spending as wages stagnate, property values fall and credit remains scarce, indicating hiring will continue to slump.

``Businesses are getting very cautious,'' Michael Gregory, a senior economist at BMO Capital Markets in Toronto, said before the report. ``They're going to wait to see consumers start coming back before you start to see hiring again. We're in a little bit of a vicious circle.''

The rate on the 10-year Treasury bond was little changed at 3.76 percent as of 12:18 p.m. in London. It fell 11 basis points this week, the first decline since the period ended March 21. A basis point is 0.01 percentage point.

The dollar was also little changed, trading at $1.5463 per euro and 105 yen.

Streak of Declines

The report is due at 8:30 a.m. in Washington. Payroll estimates in the Bloomberg survey ranged from declines of 150,000 to 18,000. A fourth consecutive drop would be the longest string of decreases since the start of the Iraq War in 2003.

Forecasts for the unemployment rate ranged from 5 percent to 5.3 percent, according to the Bloomberg survey.

Another report today is projected to show factory orders rose 0.2 percent in March, according to economists surveyed, reflecting a jump in raw-materials costs that inflated demand for non-durable goods like petroleum. The Commerce Department is scheduled to release the report at 10 a.m.

Federal Reserve policy makers this week lowered the benchmark overnight lending rate between banks by a quarter percentage point, to 2 percent, in a bid to revive the economy. The government also started sending out tax rebate checks that were part of its fiscal stimulus plan.

Fed Statement

``Household and business spending has been subdued and labor markets have softened further,'' the central bank said April 30 in announcing its decision. It also said that the easing that has taken place since last year, along with efforts to stabilize financial markets ``should help to promote growth over time.''

The U.S. economy expanded at a 0.6 percent annual pace in the first quarter, the Commerce Department said on April 30, as inventories increased because consumer spending slowed and business investment dropped. The rise in stockpiles, along with the smallest gain in household spending in seven years, indicates the economy will weaken further in coming months.

``There is no end in sight to the economic slump,'' Joshua Shapiro, chief U.S. economist at Maria Fiorini Ramirez Inc. in New York, said in a note to clients following the gross domestic product report.

Construction firms and financial-service companies have been among the hardest hit by the drop in housing, which is now in its third year. Wall Street banks and securities firms, reeling from $309 billion in mortgage losses and writedowns, have slashed 48,000 jobs in the past 10 months, according to the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association.

Job Cuts

Merrill Lynch & Co., the third-biggest U.S. securities firm, said April 17 it would cut about 3,000 more jobs after the credit-market crisis forced it to write down some $6.5 billion in debt.

Job losses have started to ripple to other areas of the economy as spending sags. The payroll report for March showed retailers, transportation firms and temporary-help agencies reduced staff.

The Institute for Supply Management said yesterday that its factory employment index dropped to the lowest level since May 2003. The group is scheduled to release results on non- manufacturing next week.

Economists forecast manufacturing payrolls declined by 35,000 last month, according to the survey median. Factories lost 48,000 jobs in March.

General Motors Corp., the world's largest automaker, this week said it's cutting production of large pickup trucks and sport-utility vehicles this year at four plants in the U.S. and Canada because of slowing sales. The plan affects 3,550 workers.

THIS IS GETTING WORSE BY THE DAY. NO RESPITE FROM THE IMPENDING CRISIS ESPECIALLY FOOD AS MENTIONED IN 'The REVELATION'.(REV. 6:6)THE 'TIMES' ARE HERE. NO PLACE TO HIDE. THE WRITING IS ON THE WALL. HE WHO HAS AN EAR LET HIM HEAR
Maddog, are you OK?
Why post an old news?
The news you posted is before the report was released.

The report has just been released.
Read it carefully again.

Why get so desperate?

http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/us/fi/gr/partner_logos/ap2_170x33.gif
Employers cut fewer jobs in April, jobless rate falls to 5%
Jeannine Aversa
Economics Writer
Associated Press
Washington, D.C., U.S.
Friday, 2 May 2008, 9:57am U.S. EDT

Employers cut far fewer jobs in April than in recent months and the unemployment rate dropped to 5%, a better-than-expected showing that nonetheless still revealed strains in the nation's crucial labor market.

For the fourth month in a row, the economy lost jobs, the Labor Department reported Friday. But in April the losses totaled 20,000, an improvement from the 81,000 reductions in payrolls logged in March. Job losses for both February and March turned out to be a bit deeper than previously reported.

The latest snapshot of the nationwide employment conditions -- while clearly still weak -- was better than many economists were anticipating. They were bracing for job cuts of 75,000 and for the unemployment rate to climb to 5.2%.

The unemployment rate, derived from a different statistical survey than the payroll figures, fell to 5% from 5.1% in March. That survey showed more people finding employment than those who didn't.

Businesses are handing out pink slips as they cope with an economy that is teetering on the edge of a recession, or possibly in one already. A severe housing slump, harder-to-get credit and financial turmoil have forced people and businesses to be more cautious in their spending. And that has hurt the economy.

To help relieve credit problems, the Federal Reserve announced Friday that it would boost the availability of short-term loans to commercial banks to $150 billion in May from the $100 billion supplied in April. The goal is to supply a source of cash to squeezed banks so that they'll keep lending to customers.

The Fed took the action and several other moves to boost credit in coordination with the European Central Bank and the Swiss National Bank.

On the jobs front, construction companies slashed 61,000 positions in April. Manufacturers cut 46,000 and retailers got rid of 27,000. Those losses were eclipsed by job gains in education and health care, professional and business services, the government and elsewhere.

The job losses came in areas hardest hit by the housing and credit debacles. The fact that fewer job cuts were ordered in April raised hopes that damages could be limited.

Voters are keenly worried about the country's economic problems and so are politicians -- in Congress, in the White House and on the campaign trail.

Workers with jobs saw scant wage gains.

Average hourly earnings for jobholders rose to $17.88 in April, a tiny 0.1% rise from the previous month. That was less than the 0.3% rise economists were forecasting. Over the last 12 months, wages have grown by 3.4%.

The weak labor market is making employers feel less generous with compensation.

Meanwhile, zooming energy and food prices are taking a bite out of paychecks. If the job market continues to falter, wage growth probably will slow, too, making people even less inclined to spend. That would spell further trouble for the economy.

The payrolls figure and the unemployment rate come from two different statistical surveys, which can provide -- as in Friday's case -- a somewhat conflicting picture of what is happening in the labor market.

The seasonally adjusted overall civilian unemployment rate -- 5% in April -- is based on a survey of 60,000 households. It showed that 362,000 people said they found employment last month, outpacing the number of people who couldn't find work.

Economists tend to put more stock, however, in the much broader business survey of 400,000 work sites that is used to calculate the payroll figures.

To limit the damage, the Federal Reserve lowered interest rates on Wednesday, but signaled that its rate-cutting campaign could be drawing to a close.

Fed officials and the Bush administration are hoping that the Fed's aggressive rate cuts since September plus the government's $168 billion stimulus package -- including tax rebates that started hitting bank accounts this week -- will lift the country out of its slump in the second half of this year.

Even if that happens, economists predict the unemployment rate will climb higher, hitting 6% early next year.

Employers often are reluctant to beef up hiring until they feel certain that any such recovery has staying power.

Democrats in Congress insist more relief needs to be provided, including additional unemployment benefits to cushion the pain of joblessness. The administration has resisted, saying the rebates and other stimulative efforts should be sufficient once they fully kick in.

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and his colleagues acknowledged Wednesday the fragile state of the economy, saying hiring conditions "have softened further."

The economy advanced at a snail's pace of just 0.6% in the first three months of this year as people and businesses clamped down on their spending. It marked the second quarter in a row of such feeble growth.

A growing number of economists believe the economy is in a recession and is indeed contracting now.

Under one rough rule, if the economy contracts for six straight months it is considered to be in a recession. That didn't happen in the last recession -- in 2001-- though. A panel of experts at the National Bureau of Economic Research that determines when U.S. recessions begin and end uses a broader definition, taking into account income, employment and other barometers. That finding is usually made well after the fact.

[pRoPhEt is a Jerk]

THIS IS GETTING WORSE BY THE DAY. NO RESPITE FROM THE IMPENDING CRISIS ESPECIALLY FOOD AS MENTIONED IN 'The REVELATION'.(REV. 6:6)THE 'TIMES' ARE HERE. NO PLACE TO HIDE. THE WRITING IS ON THE WALL. HE WHO HAS AN EAR LET HIM HEAR

Maddog, are you OK?
Why post an old news?
The news you posted is before the report was released.

The report has just been released.
Read it carefully again.

Why get so desperate?
wah pRoPhEt, what a liar !!

post an invalid news to con us ??
jobless rate is down lah !!

if you are desperate, just buy, nobody stopping you

[Unregistereb]

Consumer Bankruptcies Soar Nearly 48% in April
By Reuters | 02 May 2008 | 11:36 AM ET

Bankruptcy filings by U.S. consumers jumped 47.7 percent in April from one year ago as families cope with fallout from the subprime mortgage crisis, the American Bankruptcy Institute said.

The 92,291 bankruptcy filings in April also marked an increase of 7 percent from March, the non-partisan institute said.

"The sharp spike in consumer bankruptcies reflects the growing financial stress faced by American families, saddled with household debt and mortgage woes," said Samuel Gerdano, executive director of the institute.

"We expect consumer bankruptcies to top 1 million new cases this year."

For all of 2007, there were 850,912 U.S. bankruptcy filings, up 38 percent from 2006.

The all-time high of more than 2 million consumer bankruptcy filings occurred in 2005, just before the federal bankruptcy law was reformed to make it more difficult for consumers to discharge their debt under Chapter 7 of the law. The reforms also increased debt payments required under Chapter 13 filings and eliminated some protections such as delaying housing evictions or delaying child support proceedings.

Some Democrats in Congress this year unsuccessfully sought another change in the federal bankruptcy law to let bankruptcy judges reduce mortgage amounts to reflect the current fair value of a home. That move was opposed by Republicans and the banking industry.

Under current Chapter 13 bankruptcy law, a judge may restructure most of a consumer's loans ranging from credit cards to car payments, but may not modify a secured debt such as a home mortgage.

Bankruptcy filings made under Chapter 7 allow a consumer or business to liquidate assets to pay off creditors. Chapter 11 filings are made by companies seeking to reorganize and pay debts while staying in business.

[Bow Wow]

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Stocks jump higher after better-than-expected payroll report,
Fed's "Europe" move to boost liquidity
Tim Paradis
Economics Writer
Associated Press
New York, New York, U.S.
Friday, 2 May 2008, 9:58am U.S. EDT

Wall Street extended its advance Friday after a government employment report showed the nation's employers cut far fewer jobs than expected last month, stirring optimism about the buoyancy of the economy.

The better-than-expected report comes days after the Federal Reserve lowered interest rates by a quarter point and signaled that it could stand pat at future meetings -- a move that could help shore up an anemic dollar and combat worrisome inflation.

The Labor Department's report that employers cut 20,000 jobs in April was a relief to Wall Street, which had been expecting payrolls to decrease by 70,000 jobs. This marked the fourth straight month of job losses, but the data signaled that perhaps the economy might be resisting falling into recession.

Meanwhile, the Fed said Friday it will work with European central banks to expand a series of efforts to deal with the global credit crisis. The central bank will boost the amount of emergency reserves it supplies to U.S. banks to $150 billion in May, up from the $100 billion it supplied in April.

In the first hour of trading, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 85.90, or 0.66%, to 13,095.90.

Broader stock indicators also rose. The Standard & Poor's 500 index advanced 8.01, or 0.57%, to 1,417.35, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 4.95, or 0.20%, to 2,485.66.

Stocks surged Thursday as investors viewed the rising dollar and falling oil prices as promising signs for the economy. The Dow soared nearly 190 points to close above 13,000 for the first time since Jan. 3.

Bond prices fell Friday as investors moved into stocks from the safety of government debt. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, rose to 3.84% from 3.77% late Thursday.

Oil prices moved higher after retreating Thursday on a strengthening dollar. Light, sweet crude rose $1.41 to $113.93 a barrel in premarket electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by about 2 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to 148.8 million shares.

Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average rose 2.05%. In afternoon trading, Britain's FTSE 100 rose 1.72%, Germany's DAX index added 1.67%, and France's CAC-40 rose 1.74%.

Nevertheless JOBLESS rate increased to 5.1%. Read the latest report. It is getting from bad to worse. Big time crunch coming. What has happened is nothing compared to what is coming. Already blood at the exits with speckys rushing out.

[UnregistereB]

http://www.afp.com/english/home/imgs/logo.gif
US consumer spending rises 0.4% in March
Agence France-Presse
Washington, D.C., U.S.
Thursday, 1 May 2008, U.S. EDT

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/imagegallery/store/phpR37p5g.jpg
A customer scans dairy products at a grocery store in Washington.

US consumer spending rose 0.4% in March from the prior month, while household income climbed 0.3%, the Commerce Department said.

The March spending increase was the strongest since January and double analysts' consensus forecast of a 0.2% gain. The income increase was slightly below market expectations of 0.4%.

Consumer spending, the driver of growth in the world's biggest economy, sharply accelerated from February's meagre 0.1% gain. Household income in February had climbed 0.5% from January.

However, after adjusting for higher prices, real consumer spending was up 0.1% compared with no change in the preceding month.

And adjusted for inflation and taxes, real disposable income fell slightly - less than one tenth of a percentage point - which the Commerce Department reports as zero change, after a 0.3% increase in February real incomes.

"Consumer spending is moving sideways - but at least it hasn't yet shown the sharp declines one might have expected given the recessionary readings for consumer sentiment," said Nigel Gault, analyst at Global Insight.

Consumer confidence is declining in the face of ever-climbing food and energy prices, a slowing labour market, tightening credit and eroding household wealth as house prices drop.

On Wednesday the Commerce Department reported the economy grew at a 0.6% annual pace in the January-March period, matching the pace of the fourth quarter of 2007.

The first estimate of gross domestic product was slightly better than expected and came amid fears that the world's biggest economy is headed for recession, generally defined as two consecutive quarters of declining activity.

An inflation gauge in Thursday's consumer spending report, the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) index, showed consumer prices rose 0.3% in March, after 0.1% in February.

The core PCE reading, which excludes volatile food and energy costs, rose 0.2% March, after 0.1% in the prior month, exceeding expectations of a 0.1% rise.

The headline and core PCE increases were the largest since January.

On a 12-month basis, inflation was up 3.2% in March, after 3.4%, while core inflation edged up to 2.1%, from 2.0%.

Spending on non-durables such as gasoline was up 0.4% while services rose 0.6%.

Purchases of durable goods, big-ticket items like refrigerators and televisions, on the other hand, fell 0.4%.

After inflation adjustments, spending on non-durables and services rose 0.2% and spending on durable goods fell 0.5%.

The personal savings rate fell back to 0.2% from 0.4% in February.
HAHA HOW STUPID COULD PEOPLE GET. THE INCREASE IS DUE TO HIGHER FOOD PRICES. WHAT A JERK.

[Unreg¡stered]

HAHA HOW STUPID COULD PEOPLE GET. THE INCREASE IS DUE TO HIGHER FOOD PRICES. WHAT A JERK.
HAHA HOW STUPID MADDOG THE MORON IS. PEOPLE STILL BUY AT HIGHER PRICE. THAT'S WHY CPI WENT UP.

[Unreg¡stered]

Nevertheless JOBLESS rate increased to 5.1%. Read the latest report. It is getting from bad to worse. Big time crunch coming. What has happened is nothing compared to what is coming. Already blood at the exits with speckys rushing out.
Getting desperate and frustrated?
Can't read the words properly?

... the unemployment rate dropped to 5% ...

http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/us/fi/gr/partner_logos/ap2_170x33.gif
Employers cut fewer jobs in April, jobless rate falls to 5%
Jeannine Aversa
Economics Writer
Associated Press
Washington, D.C., U.S.
Friday, 2 May 2008, 9:57am U.S. EDT

Employers cut far fewer jobs in April than in recent months and the unemployment rate dropped to 5%, a better-than-expected showing that nonetheless still revealed strains in the nation's crucial labor market.

.........................

[Job analyst]

Getting desperate and frustrated?
Can't read the words properly?

... the unemployment rate dropped to 5% ...
Oh poor guys fighting over US jobless rate. First save your jobs guys. Discuss Singapore here.
Anyway the jobless rate depends on the ones reported. You have to take an average over a quarter you morons.

[Unreg¡stered]

http://www.straitstimes.com/Money/Story/STIStory_233178.html

May 2, 2008

Private banks roll out special units targeting mega-rich

Individuals with over US$30m in investible assets are moving more wealth to Singapore

By Grace Ng, Finance Correspondent

More private banks in Singapore are rolling out new special units to cater to Asia's super wealthy - a lucrative but largely under-served segment.

Banks observe that the region's mega-rich, who have well over US$30 million (S$41 million) in investible assets each, are moving more wealth to Singapore.

They do this to diversify their wealth beyond traditional ultra-high net worth banking hubs like Switzerland and Hong Kong.

The super wealthy grew in number to well over 17,500 in 2006 across the Asia-Pacific region, up 12% from the previous year, according to a Capgemini/Merrill Lynch report.

While there is no official data for the amount of assets ultra-rich clients booked in Singapore, one senior banker reckons growth rates may be anywhere from 10% to 25% for some banks last year.

Ultra-high net worth clients in Asia who book assets in Singapore are largely entrepreneurs from Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, China and India. Banks say this is a particularly lucrative segment as the clients require a wide range of services, from investment banking to asset management.

They also tap the banks' expertise in key areas such as setting up a family office, a private company that manages investments and trusts for a wealthy family, as well as in specialised lending, private equity and philanthropic advisory service, said Mr Rajesh Malkani, head of Standard Chartered Bank's (Stanchart's) private bank in South-east Asia.

Singapore trusts are becoming popular, with many ultra-high net worth clients using these for estate planning, he added.

One sign that Singapore is increasingly becoming popular as a booking centre for the super wealthy is that banks here are setting up dedicated units and teams to serve them.

New players, such as Australia-based Macquarie, which is purely focused on clients with at least US$30 million in investible assets, recently made Singapore its regional wealth management base.

Other niche players already in the country, such as Pictet & Cie, mostly serve clients with at least US$100 million already with the bank.

Just a few months ago, Stanchart, which set up its private banking headquarters in Singapore in July last year, saw the need to set up a 'specific ultra-high net worth proposition', said Mr Malkani.

He said the growth of this segment had 'exceeded expectations', as Stanchart's private bank was able to tap its large base of relationships with entrepreneurs who had been using its expertise and network in Asia, Africa and the Middle East for decades.

Major banks acknowledge that they have not focused enough resources on Asian clients in the past, so this segment is still under-served in Singapore.

Citi Private Bank relocated Mr Akbar Shah to Singapore less than a year ago to head its mega-wealth division in the Asia-Pacific, setting up a new team to serve clients with a net worth of more than US$250 million each.

The team had been operating in Hong Kong for many years, but Citi decided it was time to use Singapore as another base.

'Many of these clients are from Indonesia and other Southeast Asian countries, but there are also several Middle Eastern and European investors who are more keen to explore business opportunities in Asia and are also looking to place part of their liquid assets here,' said Mr Shah.

Citi's rivals are matching its moves.

UBS has a dedicated 'competency centre' in Singapore to create services and products just for its ultra-rich clients.

Credit Suisse is on the lookout for senior bankers to help it 'sharpen its penetration for ultra-high net worth clients', said Dr Francois Monnet, the head of private banking for Southeast Asia and Australasia.

The margins earned from serving ultra-rich clients may be thinner than for those in the high net worth segment, say bankers.

The average size of each transaction or trade, however, is considerably larger, said Citi's Mr Shah. So banks stand to earn hefty revenues from just one transaction for an ultra-high net worth client.


Where The Wealthy Come From

'Many of these clients are from Indonesia and other South-east Asian countries, but there are also several Middle Eastern and European investors who are...looking to place part of their liquid assets here.'

Mr Akbar Shah
who was relocated to Singapore to head Citi's mega-wealth division in the Asia-Pacific
yes, we will be the hub for mega rich people in the region & from the world. We will eventually overtake Switzerland to become the world wealth management country, keep their wealth here for tax escape, no estate duty, ding biz, investment & grow their wealth.

Let build Spore into a global city with the best facility, environment, infrastructure, vibrant, interesting, secured...... a gateway to Asia & the world.

[Unreg¡stered]

Oh poor guys fighting over US jobless rate. First save your jobs guys. Discuss Singapore here.
Anyway the jobless rate depends on the ones reported. You have to take an average over a quarter you morons.
Pathetic maddog!

Bring an outdated report and want to con people?
Con job failed, now looking for "average" excuse and "Singapore" excuse?

Want to discuss Singapore, then don't post outdated US news.
Anyway, more jobs created in Singapore.

Useless moron!
Can't even get the facts right.

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More jobs created in early 2008
Channel NewsAsia
Wednesday, 30 April 2008, 1145 hrs

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/imagegallery/store/php01LRX5.jpg

More jobs were available in the Singapore's services sector in the past few months, contributing to a growth in employment figures.

Preliminary estimates show that employment grew by 68,400 in the first quarter of 2008 as the economy picked up pace. This growth in jobs is higher than the increase of 62,500 in the previous quarter and 49,400 in the first quarter of 2007.

According to the Manpower Ministry, the services industry added 42,900 workers, while construction increased its workforce by 13,400 driven by the growth in building activities.

As for the manufacturing sector, it was the main source of retrenchments, with the largest numbers coming from the electronics industry.

Out of the 2,000 workers retrenched in the first quarter of the year, 1500 had been working in the manufacturing sector. The rest came from the services sector.

The MOM estimates however show that the number retrenched in Q1 08 is similar to the previous quarter and in Q1 07.

Overall, unemployment was up to 2.0% in March 08 from a seasonally adjusted 1.7% in December 2007, but this remains lower than a year ago.

[Unregistereb]

Financial Profits Face A 40% Drop in Second Quarter
02 May 2008 | 08:21 AM ET

Financial companies face another 40 percent decline in earnings for the second quarter, yet have held up well considering all the problems the sector has faced, Michael Thompson, managing director of Thomson Reuters, said.

As the sector tries to battle its way out of a hole created by billions of dollars in subprime writedowns, Thompson said, the group will continue to square up balance sheets and probably see a turnaround by the fourth quarter.

"The financials, considering they're down 72 percent over the same quarter last year, actually I think as a group have held up better than would be expected," Thompson said on CNBC. "What's really interesting is that the numbers keep coming down for that sector and they continue to be somewhat stalwart."[b][/color]

Analysts have adjusted their expectations to reflect a sector teetering on the brink, he added.

"We're at a point where if earnings can tell you anything about what's going on in the big picture, it's that we're sort of walking on this very fine line where we're either going to be knocked off and fall down a cliff, or we're going to stabilize and go up from here," Thompson said.

"You continue to see this pervasive downward revision of expectations," he added, "but that being said, the market tends to then correct itself and get in line with the reduced expectation earnings."

Among the largest in the sector to get hit by the subprime collapse were Citigroup Citigroup, Merrill Lynch and Bear Stearns Bear Stearns, which was bailed out by JPMorgan.

[tweety]

yes, we will be the hub for mega rich people in the region & from the world. We will eventually overtake Switzerland to become the world wealth management country, keep their wealth here for tax escape, no estate duty, ding biz, investment & grow their wealth.

Let build Spore into a global city with the best facility, environment, infrastructure, vibrant, interesting, secured...... a gateway to Asia & the world.
Mega rich coming but price of property sliding...kikikiki.

[Unreg¡stered]

Financial Profits Face A 40% Drop in Second Quarter
02 May 2008 | 08:21 AM ET

Financial companies face another 40 percent decline in earnings for the second quarter, yet have held up well considering all the problems the sector has faced, Michael Thompson, managing director of Thomson Reuters, said.

As the sector tries to battle its way out of a hole created by billions of dollars in subprime writedowns, Thompson said, the group will continue to square up balance sheets and probably see a turnaround by the fourth quarter.

"The financials, considering they're down 72 percent over the same quarter last year, actually I think as a group have held up better than would be expected," Thompson said on CNBC. "What's really interesting is that the numbers keep coming down for that sector and they continue to be somewhat stalwart."

Analysts have adjusted their expectations to reflect a sector teetering on the brink, he added.

"We're at a point where if earnings can tell you anything about what's going on in the big picture, it's that we're sort of walking on this very fine line where we're either going to be knocked off and fall down a cliff, or we're going to stabilize and go up from here," Thompson said.

"You continue to see this pervasive downward revision of expectations," he added, "but that being said, the market tends to then correct itself and get in line with the reduced expectation earnings."

Among the largest in the sector to get hit by the subprime collapse were Citigroup Citigroup, Merrill Lynch and Bear Stearns Bear Stearns, which was bailed out by JPMorgan.
.. still holding well .. not bad ..

[Unreg¡stered]

Mega rich coming but price of property sliding...kikikiki.
Is it?
Which property price is sliding?
Bird/Cock/Tweety property prices sliding?

http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/sub/latest/story/0,4574,276616,00.html?

April 25, 2008, 12.55 pm (Singapore time)

S'pore private home prices rise 3.7% in Q1


SINGAPORE - Singapore private home prices rose 3.7 per cent between January and March, the second straight quarter of slower growth as property sales slowed, government figures showed on Friday.

Click here for URA's press release (http://www.ura.gov.sg/pr/text/2008/pr08-44.html)

The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) said the price index for private homes, an indicator of inflation that is already at 26-year highs, rose to 177.2 for the three months ended March, from 170.8 in the previous three-month period.

Private home prices jumped 31 percent in 2007 for the largest increase in eight years, but growth has slowed since the final quarter of 2007 while the Jan-March sales volume slumped to the lowest since 2003.

Moves by the government to cool the Singapore housing market, coupled with fears of a global economic downturn, have kept homebuyers away from showrooms and are expected to hit developers such as CapitaLand and City Developments. -- REUTERS

[tweety]

.. still holding well .. not bad ..
kikikikiki

[tweety]

Is it?
Which property price is sliding?
Bird/Cock/Tweety property prices sliding?
kikikikiki. 4.2% to 3.7%. Read the article in full to see what the 3.7% is and where it has been sliding. kikikikikiki

[Unregistereb]

Japanese banks see 14.4 bln dlrs in subprime losses: report


Japanese financial institutions together lost more than 1.5 trillion yen (14.4 billion dollars) in the year to March because of the US subprime mortgage crisis, a report said Friday.

The nation's eight major banking groups alone are likely to post a combined subprime-related loss of more than 900 billion yen, the Nikkei newspaper said.


That is around 200 billion yen more than forecasts made public so far, it added.

"While this is less than the losses incurred by their European and US counterparts, it has still dealt a major blow to Japanese banks' profit forecasts," the Nikkei said.

One of those eight, Mizuho Financial Group Inc., will post subprime losses likely to top 565 billion yen, highlighting how banks widely involved in such investments are set to pay the price, the paper added.

Brokerage house Nomura Holdings Inc. and Norinchukin Bank saw losses grow heading into the end of this fiscal year 2007, the newspaper said.

Aioi Insurance Co. and Sompo Japan Insurance Inc. booked 83.6 billion yen and around 30 billion yen respectively in losses.

The burden created by subprime losses is likely to delay the institutions' expansion into investment banking and overseas businesses, the Nikkei said.
Oh it is spreading for sure....

[Unreg¡stered]

kikikikiki. 4.2% to 3.7%. Read the article in full to see what the 3.7% is and where it has been sliding. kikikikikiki
Just curious.
When you say price is sliding, do you mean $1.037 become $1.000?


What I read is the $1.000 in Dec07 has become $1.037 in Mar08.
So I made $0.037.

[tweety]

Just curious.
When you say price is sliding, do you mean $1.037 become $1.000?


What I read is the $1.000 in Dec07 has become $1.037 in Mar08.
So I made $0.037.
kikikiki. schoolboy.

[Unreg¡stered]

Japanese banks see 14.4 bln dlrs in subprime losses: report


Japanese financial institutions together lost more than 1.5 trillion yen (14.4 billion dollars) in the year to March because of the US subprime mortgage crisis, a report said Friday.

....................................

Oh it is spreading for sure....
Oh this is no big problem for sure.... Tokyo stocks surged >2% today....

http://www.straitstimes.com/STI/STIMEDIA/common/mast_home.gif
Asian shares jump after Wall St rally
The Straits Times
Friday, 2 May 2008

Tokyo

Japanese share prices closed up 2.05% at the highest level in almost four months on Friday after overnight gains on Wall Street and a weakening of the yen, dealers said.

The benchmark Nikkei-225 index rose 282.40 points to 14,049.26, the best finish since Jan 11. The broader Topix index of all first-section shares advanced 31.29 points or 2.32% to 1,377.39.

Markets in Japan will be closed on Monday and Tuesday.

..............................

[Unreg¡stered]

kikikiki. schoolboy.
kikikiki. schoolgirl.

[tweety]

Oh this is no big problem for sure.... Tokyo stocks surged >2% today....
kikikikik. stocks will surge property tumbling. kikikikiki.

[tweety]

No way mate. Property prices will NOT go up. This is the endgame for Singapore property already. All investors are grasping at straws.
Why not? Why shouldn't it go up when people are huffing and puffing to push it up. kikikikikikiki.

[Unreg¡stered]

kikikikik. stocks will surge property tumbling. kikikikiki.
... talk cock ... no wonder called tweety ...

[Unxxxregistered]

yes, we will be the hub for mega rich people in the region & from the world. We will eventually overtake Switzerland to become the world wealth management country, keep their wealth here for tax escape, no estate duty, ding biz, investment & grow their wealth.

Let build Spore into a global city with the best facility, environment, infrastructure, vibrant, interesting, secured...... a gateway to Asia & the world.
Dubai iz da place to be. All the wealthy putting cash there. Kuwaiti fund just walked out...to put money in da rite place.

[Unreg¡stered]

Wah! The 999LH Aston Residence at Jalan Loyang Besar is hot man!
Launched during last Saturday, 26 April 2008, 10 of these 28 strata bungalows have been snapped up. They cost between $2.68M - $2.75M each.

.. you know Ambrosia??
.. the penthouses all snapped up recently ..

.. people are very rich ..
.. money is not an issue ..


URA reports 2 units of the 15-unit Shelford Suites sold in March at record prices for the Shelford area - $$1,869psf and $1,905psf.
March is the U-turn point.

It's not that "people are very rich".

It's that the rich people are getting richer and richer. So proportionately, the cost of the homes they buy becomes relatively more affordable.

I can't imagine now even places like Loyang at Pasir Ris are selling for $2.68 m to $2.75 m.

Looks like my dog Millie :millie: will never be able to stay in any form of bungalow, whether strata or otherwise. :(

So I have no choice but to use my imagination again. Below I imagine I'm staying at Aston Residence and that's my dog Millie licking my car as I drive out of the driveway which goes under the pool.

That sounds familiar doesn't it? Another Strata Bungalow Chateau La Salle also has the same concept. Somehow I feel Chateau La Salle looks nicer. More European style and cosy, but also costs more - $3.3 million.

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn211/jlrx_bucket/Aston.gif

Went to Aston Residence on 1 May 2008. Another 3 sold.

Wow! Selling like hot cakes at $2.7 million each! :eek:

I think these landed/strata bungalows are usually bought by end users rather than speculators.

The window of opportunity of ever owning a bungalow in Singapore is fast disappearing.

I think it is now or never.

I'm afraid that the future divide is not going to be between the high earners and low earners, but between the bungalow dwellers vs the rest of the population.

Looks like I'm going to be on the wrong side of the divide, and my poor dog Millie. :millie:
suddenly so many good news on property sale, seem like market slowly picking up. Once trigger the buying spree, buyers will start to chase after all available property.

Mass market floor is $520-550, high high market also moving fast in March.

No wonder property counters performing so well recently, supporting STI index compared to other sector like Oil & Gas.

Let see when govt announced master plan for Spore in May, can it trigger like last year surging market.

[Bow Wow]

CapitaLand Falls on Profit Slide, Outlook Cautious
EarningsBy Reuters | 29 Apr 2008 | 11:33 PM ET

CapitaLand, Southeast Asia's top property developer, reported a 59 percent slide in quarterly profit due to weaker sales in Singapore and lower one-off gains, and said home buyers would remain wary amid the global credit crisis. [/size]

Earnings from private home sales in the city-state, CapitaLand's biggest money spinner a year ago amid a property boom, slumped as the government moved to cool the hype, but were was partly offset by foreign markets like China and Australia.

"This is disappointing as the first quarter had also been boosted by the sale of CapitaLand's stake in Hitachi Tower," said ABN AMRO analyst Fera Wirawin. The developer sold its 50 percent share in the Singapore office building for a S$110 million ($81 million) gain in the period.

"CapitaLand is holding up better compared to its peers as its income is more diversified, but we think the property down-cycle has already started in Singapore earlier than expected," said Wirawin, who has downgraded CapitaLand to "sell".

Private home prices in Singapore, CapitaLand's biggest market, recorded a second straight quarter of slower growth in early 2008 as property sales slumped to the lowest in five years, government figures showed on Friday.

CapitaLand derived 39 percent of its pretax income from outside Singapore last year and also earns profits from property trusts it has spun-off in recent years, such as CapitaMall Trust and CapitaCommercial Trust.

CapitaLand posted a net profit of S$247.5 million ($182 million) in the three months to the end of March, compared with S$608.1 million a year ago, in line with analysts' expectations.

The year-ago result had been boosted by a S$426.8 million fair value gain on one of its Singapore office buildings.

But its shares have outperformed its peers this year, rising 11 percent, while City Developments shares lost 12 percent and Keppel Land is down 17 percent. The Straits Times Index fell 9 percent in the same period.

Lower 2008

CapitaLand Chairman Richard Hu told investors on Tuesday that its 2008 earnings were unlikely to match last year's S$2.8 billion due to the absence of revaluation gains.

About S$1.1 billion of CapitaLand's profit last year was from gains in the value of properties and investments. The other S$1.7 billion came from selling apartments, trading properties, rent and managing real estate funds.

Residential profits in Singapore slumped 30 percent to add S$39 million in pretax earnings in the first quarter, but this was offset by an 81 percent jump in residential profits from China, which contributed S$65 million.

Australia and CapitaLand's other foreign residential markets improved 9 percent to contribute S$48 million.

"Market sentiment in the property market is expected to remain cautious until a sustained recovery in the financial markets and economic conditions can be foreseen," it said. Nevertheless, the group is confident that it will be profitable in 2008," said the group, which is partly owned by Singapore state investment firm Temasek Holdings.

Singapore property firms have reported disappointing earnings for the quarter ended March 2008, partly due to slower sales in the domestic market.

Singapore's number three developer Keppel Land posted a 3.5 percent fall in net profit, while GuocoLand and Allgreen suffered earnings declines of 93 percent and 65 percent, respectively.

[tweety]

CapitaLand Falls on Profit Slide, Outlook Cautious
EarningsBy Reuters | 29 Apr 2008 | 11:33 PM ET

CapitaLand, Southeast Asia's top property developer, reported a 59 percent slide in quarterly profit due to weaker sales in Singapore and lower one-off gains, and said home buyers would remain wary amid the global credit crisis. [/size]

Earnings from private home sales in the city-state, CapitaLand's biggest money spinner a year ago amid a property boom, slumped as the government moved to cool the hype, but were was partly offset by foreign markets like China and Australia.

"This is disappointing as the first quarter had also been boosted by the sale of CapitaLand's stake in Hitachi Tower," said ABN AMRO analyst Fera Wirawin. The developer sold its 50 percent share in the Singapore office building for a S$110 million ($81 million) gain in the period.

"CapitaLand is holding up better compared to its peers as its income is more diversified, but we think the property down-cycle has already started in Singapore earlier than expected," said Wirawin, who has downgraded CapitaLand to "sell".

Private home prices in Singapore, CapitaLand's biggest market, recorded a second straight quarter of slower growth in early 2008 as property sales slumped to the lowest in five years, government figures showed on Friday.

CapitaLand derived 39 percent of its pretax income from outside Singapore last year and also earns profits from property trusts it has spun-off in recent years, such as CapitaMall Trust and CapitaCommercial Trust.

CapitaLand posted a net profit of S$247.5 million ($182 million) in the three months to the end of March, compared with S$608.1 million a year ago, in line with analysts' expectations.

The year-ago result had been boosted by a S$426.8 million fair value gain on one of its Singapore office buildings.

But its shares have outperformed its peers this year, rising 11 percent, while City Developments shares lost 12 percent and Keppel Land is down 17 percent. The Straits Times Index fell 9 percent in the same period.

Lower 2008

CapitaLand Chairman Richard Hu told investors on Tuesday that its 2008 earnings were unlikely to match last year's S$2.8 billion due to the absence of revaluation gains.

About S$1.1 billion of CapitaLand's profit last year was from gains in the value of properties and investments. The other S$1.7 billion came from selling apartments, trading properties, rent and managing real estate funds.

Residential profits in Singapore slumped 30 percent to add S$39 million in pretax earnings in the first quarter, but this was offset by an 81 percent jump in residential profits from China, which contributed S$65 million.

Australia and CapitaLand's other foreign residential markets improved 9 percent to contribute S$48 million.

"Market sentiment in the property market is expected to remain cautious until a sustained recovery in the financial markets and economic conditions can be foreseen," it said. Nevertheless, the group is confident that it will be profitable in 2008," said the group, which is partly owned by Singapore state investment firm Temasek Holdings.

Singapore property firms have reported disappointing earnings for the quarter ended March 2008, partly due to slower sales in the domestic market.

Singapore's number three developer Keppel Land posted a 3.5 percent fall in net profit, while GuocoLand and Allgreen suffered earnings declines of 93 percent and 65 percent, respectively.

Oh that bad huh? Thought prices were rising and profits increasing. kikikiki.

[Unreg¡stered]

CapitaLand Falls on Profit Slide, Outlook Cautious
EarningsBy Reuters | 29 Apr 2008 | 11:33 PM ET

CapitaLand, Southeast Asia's top property developer, reported a 59 percent slide in quarterly profit due to weaker sales in Singapore and lower one-off gains, and said home buyers would remain wary amid the global credit crisis. [/size]

.....................

OMG!
Another April news. Why not post last year news?
Maddog, why become so desperate?

[Unreg¡stered]

Oh that bad huh? Thought prices were rising and profits increasing. kikikiki.
Bow Wow (aka tweety, aka Maddog/tigersee), if you are desperate that you need to post old news, why not post 1997 news?

[jlrx]

yes, we will be the hub for mega rich people in the region & from the world. We will eventually overtake Switzerland to become the world wealth management country, keep their wealth here for tax escape, no estate duty, ding biz, investment & grow their wealth.

Let build Spore into a global city with the best facility, environment, infrastructure, vibrant, interesting, secured...... a gateway to Asia & the world.

Does that mean that the luxury condo prices at Orchard Road will go even higher? :scared-5:

I was thinking that the divide will eventually be between the bungalow dwellers and the rest; but then now it seems that the divide could end up between Orchard Road condos and the rest, since these mega-rich foreigners are not allowed to buy landed properties.

Will these rich foreigners drive the luxury condo prices higher, or the Singaporean Lasik doctors and lawyers who earn millions drive bungalow prices higher?

Which way to bet? :banghead:

This problem has been plaguing me for some time. I don't have so much ammunition to fire all over the place.

There is one solution: buy a bungalow which foreigners can also buy - Sentosa Cove. But the price ... :scared-1:

Anyway, it's too late.

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn211/jlrx_bucket/SentosaCove.jpg

[Unregistereb]

CapitaLand Falls on Profit Slide, Outlook Cautious
EarningsBy Reuters | 29 Apr 2008 | 11:33 PM ET

CapitaLand, Southeast Asia's top property developer, reported a 59 percent slide in quarterly profit due to weaker sales in Singapore and lower one-off gains, and said home buyers would remain wary amid the global credit crisis. [/size]

Earnings from private home sales in the city-state, CapitaLand's biggest money spinner a year ago amid a property boom, slumped as the government moved to cool the hype, but were was partly offset by foreign markets like China and Australia.

"This is disappointing as the first quarter had also been boosted by the sale of CapitaLand's stake in Hitachi Tower," said ABN AMRO analyst Fera Wirawin. The developer sold its 50 percent share in the Singapore office building for a S$110 million ($81 million) gain in the period.

"CapitaLand is holding up better compared to its peers as its income is more diversified, but we think the property down-cycle has already started in Singapore earlier than expected," said Wirawin, who has downgraded CapitaLand to "sell".

Private home prices in Singapore, CapitaLand's biggest market, recorded a second straight quarter of slower growth in early 2008 as property sales slumped to the lowest in five years, government figures showed on Friday.

CapitaLand derived 39 percent of its pretax income from outside Singapore last year and also earns profits from property trusts it has spun-off in recent years, such as CapitaMall Trust and CapitaCommercial Trust.

CapitaLand posted a net profit of S$247.5 million ($182 million) in the three months to the end of March, compared with S$608.1 million a year ago, in line with analysts' expectations.

The year-ago result had been boosted by a S$426.8 million fair value gain on one of its Singapore office buildings.

But its shares have outperformed its peers this year, rising 11 percent, while City Developments shares lost 12 percent and Keppel Land is down 17 percent. The Straits Times Index fell 9 percent in the same period.

Lower 2008

CapitaLand Chairman Richard Hu told investors on Tuesday that its 2008 earnings were unlikely to match last year's S$2.8 billion due to the absence of revaluation gains.

About S$1.1 billion of CapitaLand's profit last year was from gains in the value of properties and investments. The other S$1.7 billion came from selling apartments, trading properties, rent and managing real estate funds.

Residential profits in Singapore slumped 30 percent to add S$39 million in pretax earnings in the first quarter, but this was offset by an 81 percent jump in residential profits from China, which contributed S$65 million.

Australia and CapitaLand's other foreign residential markets improved 9 percent to contribute S$48 million.

"Market sentiment in the property market is expected to remain cautious until a sustained recovery in the financial markets and economic conditions can be foreseen," it said. Nevertheless, the group is confident that it will be profitable in 2008," said the group, which is partly owned by Singapore state investment firm Temasek Holdings.

Singapore property firms have reported disappointing earnings for the quarter ended March 2008, partly due to slower sales in the domestic market.

Singapore's number three developer Keppel Land posted a 3.5 percent fall in net profit, while GuocoLand and Allgreen suffered earnings declines of 93 percent and 65 percent, respectively.

Wow 93% down and 65% down in net profit? Are you kidding??????? Analysts giving a sell rating???

[Unreg¡stered]

http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/mnt/static/image/images/topMasthead_small.gif
Record $3,125 psf paid for office building in volatile market
Commerzbank unit buys 71 Robinson Rd for $743.8m
Arthur Sim
Business Times
Tuesday, 29 April 2008

Commerz Real, a fully-owned subsidiary of Germany's Commerzbank, has bought 71 Robinson Road, setting a record in the process and perhaps heralding a new wave of office deals.

The price paid for the building, which was owned by a partnership of Lehman Brothers and Kajima Overseas Asia, was not disclosed by Commerz Real. But sources say it was $3,125 per sq ft of net lettable area (NLA), or $743.8 million. This is 7.7 per cent higher than the $2,900 psf of NLA paid for Hitachi Tower in January.

Lehman/Kajima acquired the building in October 2006 from SingTel for $163.4 million. A year later, the partnership said it would spend about $450 million, including the land cost of $163.4 million, to redevelop 71 Robinson Road into a 280,000 sq ft (gross floor area) building to be completed by mid-2009.

While the selling price represents a healthy capital appreciation, it is understood that the acquisition comes with a coupon payment by Lehman/Kajima to Commerz Real amounting to 4.5% - or about the investment yield for Commerz Real for the duration of construction.

Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) was appointed by Lehman/ Kajima to market the development in late-2007. JLL managing director (SEA) Chris Fossick said marketing was done globally, with interest from both Singapore and international funds.

In terms of leasing, Mr Fossick said there are no pre-commitments yet but talks are going on with several parties.

Commerz Real was advised by CB Richard Ellis. Commerz Real management board member Hans- Joachim Kuehl said: 'We have seen strong interest from major financial institutions in the development and expect to attract rents in the region of $15 psf.'

The acquisition was made by Commerz Real's real estate fund hausInvest global which also owns 78 Shenton Way, bought in December 2007 for $650 million or $1,857 psf of NLA.

It is worth noting that 78 Shenton Way was sold by a joint venture between Credit Suisse and CLSA funds after they paid $348.5 million for it earlier in the same year.

JLL's Mr Fossick believes this year could see more such assets held by opportunistic funds go to core funds like Commerz Real.

By his reckoning, 2007 saw core funds acquire at least 10 office assets held by opportunistic funds. Larger deals include that by CLSA, which sold the SIA Building to German pension fund SEB.

Mr Fossick believes at least another 13 office assets could be targets for core funds, including DBS Towers 1 and 2. 'We could look back on 2008 and still see quite a lot of transactions despite the global credit crunch,' he said.

A piece of the action
Current opportunistic fund ownersip
Property .......................................... Area* (sqft) . Owner
8 Shenton Way, Temasek Tower ........ 673,713 ......... Macquarie Global Partners
Singapore Power Building .................. 534,323 ......... Pacific Star
DBS Towers I & II ............................ 880,000 ......... Goldman Sachs
Hitachi Tower ................................... 279,655 ......... Goldman Sachs
Chervon House ................................ 262,138 ......... Goldman Sachs
Robinson Centre (61 Robinson Road) . 130,000 ......... Alpha Partners
Samsung Hub .................................. 105,000 ......... HoBee
Samsung Hub .................................. 110,147 (GFA). Buxani
MBFC .............................................. Approx. 1.6M . Cheung Kong + Keppel Land
Bank of East Asia Building ................. 35,000 ........... Asia Equity Partners
Depenso Building .............................. 64,917 .......... KOP
Anson House (72 Anson Road) ........... 76,172 ........... Macquarie Bank
182 Clemenceau .............................. 46,216 ........... Lehman Brothers

Property crash? drop?
Record price again for office, no jobs? bank in trouble?
Bank is expanding in Spore, we will be come the hub in Asia for wealth management, Swiss of Asia & of the world to be soon.
Residential will follow thru' once market is back.
Now I see!
No wonder this guy bought the MBR penthouse subsale for $2,700psf last week.
He must have known that banks are invading Shenton Way and MBFC.
How I wish I can get first-hand news as fast as him.

A Singaporean has just bought a MBR penthouse for investment purpose from a subsale seller for $2,700psf on Tuesday/yesterday.

As my name suggests, I am a liar. Please don't believe what I say.

Please find out:
1. If this is a lie (since the news is posted by A Liar).
2. What profit the seller has made.
3. Why he buys now? Why not during the first 3 months of 2008? Why not 3 months later? Why not next year?

[Unreg¡stered]

Oh that bad huh? Thought prices were rising and profits increasing. kikikiki.

Bow Wow (aka tweety, aka Maddog/tigersee), if you are desperate that you need to post old news, why not post 1997 news?


Wow 93% down and 65% down in net profit? Are you kidding??????? Analysts giving a sell rating???
OMG!
Another April news. Why not post last year news?

Maddog, why so desperate?
Now you need to keep replying your outdated news over and over again under different nicks (tweety, BOW WOW, Unregistereb)?

Pathetic moron! It's already May. Wake up!

[Tigersee]

CapitaLand Falls on Profit Slide, Outlook Cautious
EarningsBy Reuters | 29 Apr 2008 | 11:33 PM ET

CapitaLand, Southeast Asia's top property developer, reported a 59 percent slide in quarterly profit due to weaker sales in Singapore and lower one-off gains, and said home buyers would remain wary amid the global credit crisis. [/size]

Earnings from private home sales in the city-state, CapitaLand's biggest money spinner a year ago amid a property boom, slumped as the government moved to cool the hype, but were was partly offset by foreign markets like China and Australia.

"This is disappointing as the first quarter had also been boosted by the sale of CapitaLand's stake in Hitachi Tower," said ABN AMRO analyst Fera Wirawin. The developer sold its 50 percent share in the Singapore office building for a S$110 million ($81 million) gain in the period.

"CapitaLand is holding up better compared to its peers as its income is more diversified, but we think the property down-cycle has already started in Singapore earlier than expected," said Wirawin, who has downgraded CapitaLand to "sell".

Private home prices in Singapore, CapitaLand's biggest market, recorded a second straight quarter of slower growth in early 2008 as property sales slumped to the lowest in five years, government figures showed on Friday.

CapitaLand derived 39 percent of its pretax income from outside Singapore last year and also earns profits from property trusts it has spun-off in recent years, such as CapitaMall Trust and CapitaCommercial Trust.

CapitaLand posted a net profit of S$247.5 million ($182 million) in the three months to the end of March, compared with S$608.1 million a year ago, in line with analysts' expectations.

The year-ago result had been boosted by a S$426.8 million fair value gain on one of its Singapore office buildings.

But its shares have outperformed its peers this year, rising 11 percent, while City Developments shares lost 12 percent and Keppel Land is down 17 percent. The Straits Times Index fell 9 percent in the same period.

Lower 2008

CapitaLand Chairman Richard Hu told investors on Tuesday that its 2008 earnings were unlikely to match last year's S$2.8 billion due to the absence of revaluation gains.

About S$1.1 billion of CapitaLand's profit last year was from gains in the value of properties and investments. The other S$1.7 billion came from selling apartments, trading properties, rent and managing real estate funds.

Residential profits in Singapore slumped 30 percent to add S$39 million in pretax earnings in the first quarter, but this was offset by an 81 percent jump in residential profits from China, which contributed S$65 million.

Australia and CapitaLand's other foreign residential markets improved 9 percent to contribute S$48 million.

"Market sentiment in the property market is expected to remain cautious until a sustained recovery in the financial markets and economic conditions can be foreseen," it said. Nevertheless, the group is confident that it will be profitable in 2008," said the group, which is partly owned by Singapore state investment firm Temasek Holdings.

Singapore property firms have reported disappointing earnings for the quarter ended March 2008, partly due to slower sales in the domestic market.

Singapore's number three developer Keppel Land posted a 3.5 percent fall in net profit, while GuocoLand and Allgreen suffered earnings declines of 93 percent and 65 percent, respectively.
Is it true that many projects put on hold??? Who would have imagined 6 months ago??? Wish I knew when I bought 6 months ago??? Anyway can average out when it drops another 40%.

[Unreg¡stered]

http://www.dowjones.com/DJCom/Images/LogoHome.gif
DJ Market Talk: Singapore Housing Strength To Last Until 2010-Lehman Brothers
Dow Jones
Singapore
Wednesday, 30 April 2008, 12.01pm Singapore Time

Upcycle in Singapore's housing market likely to last until 2010, although sector currently taking a breather, says Lehman Brothers.

Expects below-average public housing completion to create deficit of up to 4,300 homes by 2010, pushing homebuyers to private housing market. Says current low transaction volume for private homes has more to do with sentiment than fundamentals; "the concern of the market should be potential housing undersupply and not oversupply, in our view."

Forecasts net supply of 11,000 private homes for 2009, 16,000 for 2010 vs yearly historical average of 7,000 since 1988; "even if we are to take into account a lower net migration rate this year as the economy slows, we think the overall housing supply is still likely to miss the population needs."

Top stock picks include CityDev, Bukit Sembawang, CapitaLand, Keppel Land, SC Global. Respective target prices at S$16.90, S$15.40, S$8.20, S$10.40, S$3.80.

That's what I suspect too ... the market is taking a breather and ready to surge again.

It's very stressful when the market surges because I'll be running around like a mad dog selling this property and grabbing that property. Property investment is very tiring, emotionally and physically. :banghead:

On the other hand, this lull period is very peaceful and I can go about concentrating on doing my job, at the same time watching my bank "reserves" grow everyday. It's more relaxing grooming "reserve" troops than sending them out to fight a war. :p
While March is the turning point (i.e. U-turn), May is the time you will see real upward actions (i.e. price upward movement).

[Unreg¡stered]

Is it true that many projects put on hold??? Who would have imagined 6 months ago??? Wish I knew when I bought 6 months ago??? Anyway can average out when it drops another 40%.
No point talking about condo, you can't afford any.

http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/sub/latest/story/0,4574,276616,00.html?

April 25, 2008, 12.55 pm (Singapore time)

S'pore private home prices rise 3.7% in Q1


SINGAPORE - Singapore private home prices rose 3.7 per cent between January and March, the second straight quarter of slower growth as property sales slowed, government figures showed on Friday.

Click here for URA's press release (http://www.ura.gov.sg/pr/text/2008/pr08-44.html)

The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) said the price index for private homes, an indicator of inflation that is already at 26-year highs, rose to 177.2 for the three months ended March, from 170.8 in the previous three-month period.

Private home prices jumped 31 percent in 2007 for the largest increase in eight years, but growth has slowed since the final quarter of 2007 while the Jan-March sales volume slumped to the lowest since 2003.

Moves by the government to cool the Singapore housing market, coupled with fears of a global economic downturn, have kept homebuyers away from showrooms and are expected to hit developers such as CapitaLand and City Developments. -- REUTERS

[tweety]

While March is the turning point (i.e. U-turn), May is the time you will see real upward actions (i.e. price upward movement).
kikikikiki about turn for you??? kikikikiki

[Tigersee]

While March is the turning point (i.e. U-turn), May is the time you will see real upward actions (i.e. price upward movement).
Right. Yes UPWARD action when speculators climb high rises to jump off. wooohahahaha. Please keep your eyes UPWARD.

[Unreg¡stered]

http://l.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/us/nws/p/reuters_logo_94.png
U.S. Q1 GDP Growth Stronger Than Forecast
Glenn Somerville
Reuters
Washington, D.C., U.S.

http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/nm/20080430/2008_04_30t093521_450x334_us_usa_economy_gdp.jpg
Shoppers cross Seventh Avenue in New York in a file photo. The economy grew at a slightly stronger pace than forecast as 2008 began, helped by inventory-building that tempered a steadily deteriorating housing sector and less vigorous consumer spending. - Photo: Ray Stubblebine, Reuters

A buildup in inventories kept the economy afloat in the first quarter despite the weakest consumer spending since 2001 and the biggest drop in home building in more than 26 years, a government report showed on Wednesday.

The Commerce Department said gross domestic product or GDP expanded at a 0.6% annual rate in the first quarter, matching the fourth quarter's advance and handily topping a forecast for 0.2% growth in an advance poll of economists by Reuters.

Some economists said the report suggested the U.S. economy was on a bit firmer ground than had been thought, but others were still bracing for worse times ahead as businesses ratchet back production further to try to sell off inventories.

"We expect that the coming inventory correction will send growth into negative territory, save a truly heroic effort by the U.S. consumer to spend their way out of the current malaise with their $600 rebates," said Joseph Brusuelas, U.S. chief economist at IDEAglobal in New York.

Tax rebate checks that are part of a government economic stimulus program began to flow this week to upwards of 100 million Americans.

Government bond prices initially dipped on the stronger-than-expected growth figure but later recovered as investors focused on weakening consumer spending. Stocks opened higher.

Separately, ADP Employer Services said U.S. private-sector employers added 10,000 jobs in April, another surprise on the upside since forecasts had been for 60,000 jobs to be lost.

The reports were issued just before Fed policy-makers began a second day of deliberations that is expected to result in a decision to trim official interest rates another quarter percentage point to try to keep expansion going.

Analysts said they still expected a rate reduction.

"This is not going to disrupt things at the Fed today," said economist Pierre Ellis of Decision Economics in New York.

GDP is the broadest measure of total economic activity within U.S. borders and, despite a better-than-expected first-quarter performance, details of the report reflect widespread weakening that many analysts fear will lead to a recession.

The GDP figures are an initial measure of first-quarter performance and will be revised twice in coming months.

The Fed has cut its benchmark federal funds rate by 3 percentage points since mid-September to shore up the economy and calm unsettled financial markets. But many believe the Fed may send a signal at Wednesday's meeting that its rate-cutting campaign is at an end amid signs of persistent rises in food and energy prices.

Consumer spending that fuels two-thirds of economic activity through consumption of goods and services, grew at the weakest rate since the second quarter of 2001, when the economy was last in recession. It rose at a 1% rate after growing 2.3% in the fourth quarter.

The weakening in an already distressed housing sector was even more striking. Spending on residential construction plunged at a 26.7% rate - a ninth straight quarterly decline and the biggest for any three months since the end of 1981.

A buildup in business inventories, which bolsters growth in the period in which it occurs, helped the economy keep growing in the first quarter. Stocks of unsold goods rose at a $1.8-billion annual rate in the first quarter after shrinking at an $18.3-billion rate in the final quarter of last year.

There was a slight moderation in the rate of price rises. Personal consumption expenditures excluding food and energy items - a key gauge of core inflation that is favored by the Fed - rose at a 2.2% rate after increasing 2.5% in the fourth quarter.

A separate report suggested the weakening labor market was keeping labor costs under wraps. The Labor Department said U.S. employment costs grew at a 0.7% annual rate in the first quarter, marking a slight slowdown from the fourth quarter.

The deep housing slump and a related tightening in credit has put the U.S. economy on the ropes and data from the Mortgage Bankers Association on Wednesday suggested the housing market was far from recovery.

The MBA said its index of mortgage application activity dropped 11.1% last week to its lowest level since late December.
Yes! Just keep it positive.

[Unregisterd]

Yes! Just keep it positive.
Pathetic. Can keep 0.000000001%. Also up wat.

[Bull]

India place to be for property. Don't talk about piddly 50% gain. India gain 5-8 times in last 5 years.

[Unreg¡stered]

Pathetic. Can keep 0.000000001%. Also up wat.
You think I care about the US GDP figures?

Can see those idiots who shouted recession during the last 9 months eat their words. Damn shiok!

Don't know anything don't pretend to know and start shouting.

[UNREG]

PM Lee cautions S'poreans to prepare for economic slowdown
By Dominique Loh, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 01 May 2008 1808 hrs


PM Lee cautions S'poreans to prepare for economic slowdown

SINGAPORE : Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has cautioned Singaporeans to be prepared for a slowing economy in the next few quarters.

Speaking in Malay, Mandarin and English at the May Day Rally, Mr Lee told workers that Singapore's economy may have done well so far in 2008, but developments in the US economy may still have an impact on the country.

Mr Lee gave the stark reminder when he joined more than 1,500 workers at Labour Day celebrations.

Mr Lee said the US sub-prime crisis has spread through its banking system and beyond. While the immediate danger is over, there is still the ripple effect.

He painted three scenarios of how the US economy might affect Singapore.

The first scenario is a mild recession but with growth at the end of the year.

Second, if the US problems persist, it'll slow Singapore's growth as well, even going into 2009.

The third scenario is a severe US downturn which most analysts agree is unlikely to happen.

Mr Lee believes the first two scenarios are more likely.

"For this year, we can still achieve a 4-6 percent growth which MTI (Ministry of Trade and Industry) has projected. But remember, the 4-6 percent (growth) is for the whole year. The first quarter was good, (but for the) second, third and fourth quarters, prepare for a slowdown (which) may last into next year. This is one major uncertainty affecting our economy," said the prime minister.

"Employers and workers have to bear this in mind when you negotiate your CAs (collective agreements) this year. You have to ensure that any built-in wage increases are sustainable and if the companies are still doing well, reward the workers with higher variable bonuses, and keep it flexible," he added.

Another concern is the rising cost of living.

Mr Lee said the government had just given out the first instalment of Growth Dividends to some 2.4 million Singaporeans. The second payment is due in October.

Overall, each household can expect some S$5,000 to cope with the rising costs.

On the issue of foreign labour, PM Lee said foreign workers are willing to work longer hours to keep the airport, factories and hotels open 24 hours a day throughout the year. That gives Singapore a more competitive edge, he said, adding that keeping foreign workers away is not the answer.

"It's because we have the foreign workers here, that's why our economy has grown, that's why the employers, ...companies are here, and that's why Singaporeans have jobs. You send away the foreign workers,... a few hundred thousand (of them), Singaporeans (won't) go into those jobs, the companies will close or leave. I think the Singaporeans unemployment will go up, and hardship will go up," said PM Lee.

For those who have difficulty finding jobs, Mr Lee said there are many schemes to help them get employed. For example, the Workfare Income Supplement gave out S$300 million this year, benefiting some 300,000 low-wage workers.

More jobs are also on the horizon, with some 10,000 available at the Marina Bay Integrated Resort. - CNA /ls

TIGHTEN BELTS.

[Unreg¡stered]

You think I care about the US GDP figures?

Can see those idiots who shouted recession during the last 9 months eat their words. Damn shiok!

Don't know anything don't pretend to know and start shouting.
hello !! those jokers who shouted recession have already shut their gaps . they are buying now .

[Unreg]

U.K. House Prices Posted First Annual Drop Since 1996

By Svenja O'Donnell

May 2 (Bloomberg) -- U.K. house prices fell in April from a year earlier, the first annual decline since 1996, after the credit market squeeze prompted mortgage lenders to raise interest rates, a HBOS Plc report showed.

The cost of an average home declined 0.9 percent to 189,027 pounds ($373,082) in the three months through April from a year earlier, the U.K.'s biggest mortgage lender said in a statement on the Regulatory News Service today. That was the first annual drop in HBOS's index since February 1996. Prices fell 1.3 percent from March, when they declined 2.5 percent, the most in 16 years.

The report adds to evidence Britain's worst housing slump since the end of the last recession is deepening as lenders tighten credit standards. Mortgage approvals fell to the lowest level since at least 1999 in March and HBOS said faster inflation is making it harder for potential buyers to afford new homes.

``The decline in prices is driven by a squeeze on spending power and the rapid rise in house prices in the last few years,'' HBOS said in a statement. The mortgage lender said it expects a ``mid-single-digit percentage decline'' in prices this year.

The pound rose 0.5 percent to 77.91 pence per euro today and climbed to $1.9838 against the dollar.

Values in regions such as Wales and the West Midlands may fall more than the U.K. average, while homes in Scotland are likely to record ``modest price rises,'' HBOS said.

Faster Pace

Bank of England policy maker David Blanchflower said April 29 house prices may fall 33 percent in the next three years. While the central bank has cut its benchmark rate three times since December, higher interbank lending costs have prompted HBOS and other mortgage lenders to withdraw their best offers.

``Housing market data have clearly deteriorated at a faster pace over the last few weeks, with lenders continuing to raise mortgage interest rate spreads and cut back on credit availability,'' said Nick Bate, an economist at Merrill Lynch & Co. in London. That's ``raising the risks of a more protracted downturn than we previously envisaged.'' [/size]

Persimmon Plc, the U.K.'s largest homebuilder by market value, on April 24 said it postponed construction on new sites after a drop in sales and an increase in cancellations. Hometrack Ltd. said April 28 it's measure of house prices fell 0.6 percent from March, the biggest decline in more than three years.

Falling Stocks

Property-related stocks have plunged since credit markets seized up in August. Bradford & Bingley Plc, the U.K.'s biggest lender to landlords, has dropped 60 percent; shares of HBOS and Persimmon have both dropped around 50 percent in the period.

Blanchflower said this week his colleagues they need to take ``aggressive action'' to stave off a potential recession. The central bank is expected to keep its benchmark rate unchanged at 5 percent on May 8, according to the median forecast of 30 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News.

The National Institute of Economic and Social Research today cut its growth forecast and now expects the economy to expand 1.8 percent this year, down from the 2 percent it predicted in January. That would match the slowest pace since 1992.

The Bank of England on April 21 offered to help financial institutions by offering to swap government bonds for mortgage securities to boost banks' liquidity. Governor Mervyn King pledged to meet demand even if it exceeds an estimate of 50 billion pounds ($99 billion.)

King said this week policy makers face a ``difficult balancing act'' as they seek to shore up growth, while trying to curb inflation, which he forecast may breach the government's upper limit of 3 percent.

Higher energy and food costs threaten to stoke inflation further. Oil prices have doubled in the last five years, reaching a record $119.93 on April 28. Rice has more than doubled in the past year to a record $25.07 per 100 pounds April 24.
UK EXPECTED TO FALL 33%??? WHAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTT????

[Unreg]

hello !! those jokers who shouted recession have already shut their gaps . they are buying now .
The worst recession is on the way. No one is buying. Buyers market already. Go check out with your agent.

[Unreg]

Is it true that many projects put on hold??? Who would have imagined 6 months ago??? Wish I knew when I bought 6 months ago??? Anyway can average out when it drops another 40%.
Yes many projects on hold. No point launching in a slumping market. Wait and you will get good bargains.

[Unreg]

Originally Posted by mr funny
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/sub/...76166,00.html?

Published April 23, 2008

Landed plots fetch 22% less at URA auction

By EMILYN YAP


LANDED-HOUSING sites at Sembawang were sold yesterday at prices 22 per cent lower on average than nearby plots a few months ago. Yesterday's auction by the Urban Redevelopment Authority was for 11 plots with 99-year leasehold tenure. All were sold - for a total of $45.29 million, or $223 per sq ft (psf) on average.

The plots come under phase two of Sembawang Greenvale estate. URA sold the 12 plots in nearby phase one in October last year for about $285 psf on average. Smaller developers and individuals turned up yesterday to bid for the phase two plots, which can be developed into 90 dwellings - one bungalow, 16 semi-detached houses and 73 terraced houses.

Fragrance Homes reaped the biggest harvest, winning four plots that can house eight semi-detached houses and 40 terraced houses. The largest plot, in Penaga Place, designated for 18 terraced houses across 35,624 sq ft, cost Fragrance $8.7 million or $244 psf. This was the highest psf price for any of the 11 plots.

Odeon Properties' $1.66 million bid for a plot in Kerong Lane represented the lowest psf price of $151. The 10,989 sq ft site can accommodate one bungalow and two semi-detached houses. Reflecting the better market last year, prices on a psf basis in phase one ranged from a higher $210 to $327 psf.

The only individual to submit a wining bid yesterday, Christina Sui Fong Fong, bought the third-largest land parcel for $6.65 million or $221 psf.

Asked about plans to release more landed-housing parcels, URA's director of land administration Choy Chan Pong said: 'We will be releasing according to market demand.'
So what..? Market was up and it will come down ofcourse. But wait...it will go up again in 10 years... whats the big deal?

[Unreg]

Originally Posted by mr funny
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/sub/...76166,00.html?

Published April 23, 2008

Landed plots fetch 22% less at URA auction

By EMILYN YAP


LANDED-HOUSING sites at Sembawang were sold yesterday at prices 22 per cent lower on average than nearby plots a few months ago. Yesterday's auction by the Urban Redevelopment Authority was for 11 plots with 99-year leasehold tenure. All were sold - for a total of $45.29 million, or $223 per sq ft (psf) on average.

The plots come under phase two of Sembawang Greenvale estate. URA sold the 12 plots in nearby phase one in October last year for about $285 psf on average. Smaller developers and individuals turned up yesterday to bid for the phase two plots, which can be developed into 90 dwellings - one bungalow, 16 semi-detached houses and 73 terraced houses.

Fragrance Homes reaped the biggest harvest, winning four plots that can house eight semi-detached houses and 40 terraced houses. The largest plot, in Penaga Place, designated for 18 terraced houses across 35,624 sq ft, cost Fragrance $8.7 million or $244 psf. This was the highest psf price for any of the 11 plots.

Odeon Properties' $1.66 million bid for a plot in Kerong Lane represented the lowest psf price of $151. The 10,989 sq ft site can accommodate one bungalow and two semi-detached houses. Reflecting the better market last year, prices on a psf basis in phase one ranged from a higher $210 to $327 psf.

The only individual to submit a wining bid yesterday, Christina Sui Fong Fong, bought the third-largest land parcel for $6.65 million or $221 psf.

Asked about plans to release more landed-housing parcels, URA's director of land administration Choy Chan Pong said: 'We will be releasing according to market demand.'
So what..? Market was up and it will come down ofcourse. But wait...it will go up again in 10 years... whats the big deal?

[Unreg¡stered]

WAH SO MUCH FALL SO SOON? TUMBLING DOWN? BETTER INVEST IN RICE.
BOW WOW, you poor desperate fella. Why keep reading old news?
Your news is at least 10 days old.

Go be a farmer. Condo is not for you. You can't afford it.

http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/mnt/static/image/images/topMasthead_small.gif
Record $3,125 psf paid for office building in volatile market
Commerzbank unit buys 71 Robinson Rd for $743.8m
Arthur Sim
Business Times
Tuesday, 29 April 2008

Commerz Real, a fully-owned subsidiary of Germany's Commerzbank, has bought 71 Robinson Road, setting a record in the process and perhaps heralding a new wave of office deals.

The price paid for the building, which was owned by a partnership of Lehman Brothers and Kajima Overseas Asia, was not disclosed by Commerz Real. But sources say it was $3,125 per sq ft of net lettable area (NLA), or $743.8 million. This is 7.7 per cent higher than the $2,900 psf of NLA paid for Hitachi Tower in January.

Lehman/Kajima acquired the building in October 2006 from SingTel for $163.4 million. A year later, the partnership said it would spend about $450 million, including the land cost of $163.4 million, to redevelop 71 Robinson Road into a 280,000 sq ft (gross floor area) building to be completed by mid-2009.

While the selling price represents a healthy capital appreciation, it is understood that the acquisition comes with a coupon payment by Lehman/Kajima to Commerz Real amounting to 4.5% - or about the investment yield for Commerz Real for the duration of construction.

Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) was appointed by Lehman/ Kajima to market the development in late-2007. JLL managing director (SEA) Chris Fossick said marketing was done globally, with interest from both Singapore and international funds.

In terms of leasing, Mr Fossick said there are no pre-commitments yet but talks are going on with several parties.

Commerz Real was advised by CB Richard Ellis. Commerz Real management board member Hans- Joachim Kuehl said: 'We have seen strong interest from major financial institutions in the development and expect to attract rents in the region of $15 psf.'

The acquisition was made by Commerz Real's real estate fund hausInvest global which also owns 78 Shenton Way, bought in December 2007 for $650 million or $1,857 psf of NLA.

It is worth noting that 78 Shenton Way was sold by a joint venture between Credit Suisse and CLSA funds after they paid $348.5 million for it earlier in the same year.

JLL's Mr Fossick believes this year could see more such assets held by opportunistic funds go to core funds like Commerz Real.

By his reckoning, 2007 saw core funds acquire at least 10 office assets held by opportunistic funds. Larger deals include that by CLSA, which sold the SIA Building to German pension fund SEB.

Mr Fossick believes at least another 13 office assets could be targets for core funds, including DBS Towers 1 and 2. 'We could look back on 2008 and still see quite a lot of transactions despite the global credit crunch,' he said.

A piece of the action
Current opportunistic fund ownersip
Property .......................................... Area* (sqft) . Owner
8 Shenton Way, Temasek Tower ........ 673,713 ......... Macquarie Global Partners
Singapore Power Building .................. 534,323 ......... Pacific Star
DBS Towers I & II ............................ 880,000 ......... Goldman Sachs
Hitachi Tower ................................... 279,655 ......... Goldman Sachs
Chervon House ................................ 262,138 ......... Goldman Sachs
Robinson Centre (61 Robinson Road) . 130,000 ......... Alpha Partners
Samsung Hub .................................. 105,000 ......... HoBee
Samsung Hub .................................. 110,147 (GFA). Buxani
MBFC .............................................. Approx. 1.6M . Cheung Kong + Keppel Land
Bank of East Asia Building ................. 35,000 ........... Asia Equity Partners
Depenso Building .............................. 64,917 .......... KOP
Anson House (72 Anson Road) ........... 76,172 ........... Macquarie Bank
182 Clemenceau .............................. 46,216 ........... Lehman Brothers

[Unreg¡stered]

The worst recession is on the way. No one is buying. Buyers market already. Go check out with your agent.
The market has U-turned since March. People has started buying. Volume has picked up. Go check out with your agent.

[Tigersee]

The market has U-turned since March. People has started buying. Volume has picked up. Go check out with your agent.
Woooohahahahaha. All except you have U-turned and sold and rushed out...wooohahahahahaha. Dead for sure.

[Unreg¡stered]

http://l.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/us/nws/p/reuters_logo_94.png
U.S. Q1 GDP Growth Stronger Than Forecast
Glenn Somerville
Reuters
Washington, D.C., U.S.

http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/nm/20080430/2008_04_30t093521_450x334_us_usa_economy_gdp.jpg
Shoppers cross Seventh Avenue in New York in a file photo. The economy grew at a slightly stronger pace than forecast as 2008 began, helped by inventory-building that tempered a steadily deteriorating housing sector and less vigorous consumer spending. - Photo: Ray Stubblebine, Reuters

A buildup in inventories kept the economy afloat in the first quarter despite the weakest consumer spending since 2001 and the biggest drop in home building in more than 26 years, a government report showed on Wednesday.

The Commerce Department said gross domestic product or GDP expanded at a 0.6% annual rate in the first quarter, matching the fourth quarter's advance and handily topping a forecast for 0.2% growth in an advance poll of economists by Reuters.

Some economists said the report suggested the U.S. economy was on a bit firmer ground than had been thought, but others were still bracing for worse times ahead as businesses ratchet back production further to try to sell off inventories.

"We expect that the coming inventory correction will send growth into negative territory, save a truly heroic effort by the U.S. consumer to spend their way out of the current malaise with their $600 rebates," said Joseph Brusuelas, U.S. chief economist at IDEAglobal in New York.

Tax rebate checks that are part of a government economic stimulus program began to flow this week to upwards of 100 million Americans.

Government bond prices initially dipped on the stronger-than-expected growth figure but later recovered as investors focused on weakening consumer spending. Stocks opened higher.

Separately, ADP Employer Services said U.S. private-sector employers added 10,000 jobs in April, another surprise on the upside since forecasts had been for 60,000 jobs to be lost.

The reports were issued just before Fed policy-makers began a second day of deliberations that is expected to result in a decision to trim official interest rates another quarter percentage point to try to keep expansion going.

Analysts said they still expected a ]rate reduction.

"This is not going to disrupt things at the Fed today," said economist Pierre Ellis of Decision Economics in New York.

GDP is the broadest measure of total economic activity within U.S. borders and, despite a better-than-expected first-quarter performance, details of the report reflect widespread weakening that many analysts fear will lead to a recession.

The GDP figures are an initial measure of first-quarter performance and will be revised twice in coming months.

The Fed has cut its benchmark federal funds rate by 3 percentage points since mid-September to shore up the economy and calm unsettled financial markets. But many believe the Fed may send a signal at Wednesday's meeting that its rate-cutting campaign is at an end amid signs of persistent rises in food and energy prices.

Consumer spending that fuels two-thirds of economic activity through consumption of goods and services, grew at the weakest rate since the second quarter of 2001, when the economy was last in recession. It rose at a 1% rate after growing 2.3% in the fourth quarter.

The weakening in an already distressed housing sector was even more striking. Spending on residential construction plunged at a 26.7% rate - a ninth straight quarterly decline and the biggest for any three months since the end of 1981.

A buildup in business inventories, which bolsters growth in the period in which it occurs, helped the economy keep growing in the first quarter. Stocks of unsold goods rose at a $1.8-billion annual rate in the first quarter after shrinking at an $18.3-billion rate in the final quarter of last year.

There was a slight moderation in the rate of price rises. Personal consumption expenditures excluding food and energy items - a key gauge of core inflation that is favored by the Fed - rose at a 2.2% rate after increasing 2.5% in the fourth quarter.

A separate report suggested the weakening labor market was keeping labor costs under wraps. The Labor Department said U.S. employment costs grew at a 0.7% annual rate in the first quarter, marking a slight slowdown from the fourth quarter.

The deep housing slump and a related tightening in credit has put the U.S. economy on the ropes and data from the Mortgage Bankers Association on Wednesday suggested the housing market was far from recovery.

The MBA said its index of mortgage application activity dropped 11.1% last week to its lowest level since late December.

Yes! Just keep it "+".
Recession needs 2 "-" quarters. So far all "+".
Where is the recession?
Guessing again? Making wild assumption again?
Same old story.

[Unreg¡stered]

http://www.straitstimes.com/Prime%2BNews/Story/STIStory_232795.html

May 1, 2008

PM upbeat about S'pore economy

He is confident Singapore will be able to weather uncertain global outlook

By Sue-Ann Chia


SINGAPORE is sailing into choppier waters amid uncertainty in the global economy, but Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong is confident of Singapore's economic prospects.

In his annual May Day message, Mr Lee sketched out the uncertain outlook due to the financial crisis in the United States.

But he maintained: 'However the US financial problems play out, I am confident of our ability to cope...our economic fundamentals are sound and we are in a strong position.'

Buoyant industries such as tourism, construction and marine engineering will buffer Singapore from the effects of a US recession, he said.

The economy is still on track to grow by 4 per cent to 6 per cent this year. The job market is also expected to be full of jobs chasing workers.

'In both manufacturing and services, many vacancies are waiting to be filled,' the Prime Minister said.

Latest job figures released yesterday buttress this point.

They show that a record 68,400 jobs were added to the economy in the first three months of the year, exceeding the 62,500 jobs created in the previous quarter and 49,400 in the same quarter last year.

Still, despite the job boom, the unemployment rate climbed from 1.7 per cent in December to 2 per cent in March.

HSBC Bank economist Robert Prior-Wandesforde attributed this phenomenon to an expanding pool of job seekers, possibly a result of more foreigners seeking jobs here.

In his speech, Mr Lee also urged workers and employers to aim for 'sustainable' wage changes this year, in anticipation of a year ahead that will be 'much more challenging' than 2007 had been.

'Realistic settlements will address the concerns of workers, and yet allow companies to respond quickly to sudden changes in the economic environment,' he said.

For now, the economy is still doing well although 'dark storm clouds have gathered'.

Pointing to the sub-prime mortgage loan crisis in the United States, Mr Lee said: 'We must watch closely how the situation in the US unfolds, and be ready to respond if things take a turn for the worse.'

Addressing the hot issue of rising inflation, Mr Lee said Singapore cannot shield itself completely from this worldwide phenomenon.

But the strong Singapore dollar has helped to maintain the purchasing power of workers' salaries, he noted.

The Prime Minister also assured the people about the food situation here.

Singapore has enough supplies of food, notably rice, and 'we can buy what we need from many sources', he said.

Also, help will be given to those struggling to cope with the higher cost of living.

Relief measures from the Government total $3 billion, ranging in form from tax rebates and Medisave top-ups to the GST offset package and Growth Dividends given to every Singaporean from the last Budget surplus.

The first payout of the Growth Dividends was yesterday, with a second due on Oct 1.

Noting that Singapore's strength is the strong cooperation among unions, employers and the Government, Mr Lee said this enabled them to take a 'rational approach' and act in Singapore's collective best interest.

PM Lee added: 'The external turbulence will put our solidarity under stress.

'But we must not end up arguing among ourselves, or, worse, quarrelling over how to divide what we have, or else we will all be worse off.'

[email protected]
yes, everyone has to work together for a prosperous & strong growth Spore.
Union, employer & govt, work hand in hand, to push for strong GDP, new jobs creation, higher salary, attract new investment & a better living environment.

US$ will easily strengthen 10% in next 12 months, it will resolve some inflation issue, also those use US$ to do business, profit will be higher in coming quarters, we will see strong quarterly result in most listed companies in next few quarters....all these will push for a better share & property price.

[jlrx]

Help! I sense something! Is the market stirring? :confused:

A certain calm seems to have returned to the equity markets. :eek:

I haven't saved enough money yet for the down payment of my dream strata bungalow! :scared-4:

I want my strata bungalow! I want my strata bungalow!

My dog Millie :millie: also needs to live in a strata bungalow so that it can lick my car as I drive out of the carpark under the swimming pool.

Please wait for me! Don't fly away! Please!

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[Reuters]

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Jobs data lifts U.S. blue chips
Jennifer Coogan
Reuters
New York, New York, U.S.
Friday, 2 May 2008, 4:49 PM U.S. EDT

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Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, 29 April 2008. - Photo: Brendan MeDermid, Reuters

Stocks made modest gains on Friday after jobs data that offered fresh evidence the economic slowdown is not as severe as feared, but technology shares faded on a surprise loss from Sun Microsystems Inc.

The government's stronger-than-expected April payrolls report helped oil stocks rebound sharply by easing fears about weaker U.S. demand for energy. Adding to the energy rally were higher-than-expected profit from Marathon Oil Corp and Chevron Corp, the second-largest U.S. oil company.

"People are willing to accept the fact that we may have a very slow, stagnant economy, but the prospect of a sharp downturn seems to be less and less likely, hence the sigh of relief," said Peter Kenny, managing director at Knight Equity Markets in Jersey City, New Jersey.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 48.20 points, or 0.37%, at 13,058.20. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 4.56 points, or 0.32%, at 1,413.90. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 3.72 points, or 0.15%, at 2,476.99.

For the week, the Dow gained 1.3%, the S&P rose 1.2% and the Nasdaq advanced 2.2%.

Sun, one of the biggest makers of computers used by businesses, sank 22.6% to close at $12.64 after the company late on Thursday blamed the slowing economy for its dismal earnings forecast.

Yahoo Inc's shares helped stem the Nasdaq's losses. Shares of the Internet company rose nearly 7% to $28.67. The company has intensified talks with Microsoft Corp in a last-minute effort to reach a friendly agreement on Microsoft's buyout offer, now worth $42 billion, a source familiar with the matter said. Microsoft slipped 16 cents to $29.24.

The Labor Department said 20,000 jobs were shed last month, marking a fourth straight monthly decline, but the cuts were fewer than the 80,000 which economists surveyed by Reuters had anticipated. The unemployment rate fell to 5.0% from 5.1%.

Oil shares were higher after U.S. crude futures rose $3.80 to settle at $116.32 a barrel.

Marathon shares rose 6% to $50.80 and Chevron rose 38 cents to $95.32. A big gainer in the oil patch was offshore driller Transocean Inc, which rose 4.2% to $151.92.

[AFP]

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With modest job losses, U.S. economy defies doomsayers
Rob Lever
Agence France-Presse
Washington, D.C., U.S.
Friday, 2 May 2008, 3:18 PM U.S. EDT

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A job seeker searches for employment opportunities in Arlington Heights, Illinois in 2004. The US labor market held up better than expected in April despite fears of an economic slump, with 20,000 jobs cut in the month, the Labor Department reported Friday. - Photo: Tim Boyle, AFP

The US labor market held up better than expected in April, with 20,000 jobs cut in the month, according to data Friday that analysts said signaled a mild economic downturn but not a calamity.

The unemployment rate, based on a separate survey, rate fell a tenth of a percentage point to 5.0%, the Labor Department said.

The report was better than expected by private economists, who on average had forecast a loss of 75,000 jobs and a jobless rate of 5.2%.

"Job losses are way below the recession norm for this point of the business cycle, if this is recession," said Robert Brusca at FAO Economics. "Many things do not really add up for the recession forecasters."

The payrolls report, seen as one of the best indicators of economic momentum, comes amid fears that the world's largest economy may be headed for recession after being battered by a horrific decline in housing and a related credit squeeze. Yet the first-quarter report on US gross domestic product showed a small increase of 0.6%.

Avery Shenfeld at CIBC World Markets said the data still points to economic turmoil, with job declines in key areas such as manufacturing, construction and retailing.

"The report was milder than we thought but some of the details were not quite as encouraging," he said.

"If you isolate the cyclical industries, employment is dropping quite quickly. It's still not a sign the labor market is healthy."

The report showed the economy still hurting from the housing crisis. Construction shed 61,000 jobs and manufacturing lost 46,000.

That was offset in part by a gain of 37,000 in health care, and 27,000 in professional and technical services. The retail sector however lost 27,000 jobs.

Shenfeld said that the sector details show problems: "When you are trying to take the temperature of the economy and where it stands in the business cycle, you look at the cyclical industries like manufacturing, construction and retail."

President George W. Bush said the report was disappointing but expressed confidence in an economic recovery.

"That's not good enough for America. It's positive growth, but we can do better than that," he said of the report during a visit to St. Louis, Missouri.

Bush said the stimulus package anchored on tax rebates will help mitigate economic weakness.

"The good news is, is that we anticipated this. You know, last fall we started to get indications that the economy was going to, you know, slow down," he said.

Stephen Gallagher, economist at Societe Generale in New York, argued that the report suggests a decline for the overall economy but not a meltdown.

"Overall, the modest pullback supports a mild recession or downturn for the US economy," he said. "That is not good news, but the evidence lessens the fears of a deep or prolonged downturn."

On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve cut its base lending rate by a quarter-point to 2.0% in a move seen as further insurance against a deep downturn after a series of aggressive rate cuts since September.

Many analysts say the Fed is likely to pause in its rate-cutting cycle to assess the impact of its earlier actions as well as the 168-billion-dollar economic stimulus package.

Peter Kretzmer, senior economist at Bank of America, said Friday's employment report "will encourage the Fed to pause in its rate cycle, allowing the aggressive easing to date to impact the economy."

Paul Ferley, economist at RBC Capital Markets, said the Fed is still cautious about a soft economy and tight credit conditions.

"Although today's report did not show as great a drop in employment as feared, it is still indicative of labor markets shedding workers during the first four months of the year," he said.

"To help sustain growth beyond this and through 2009, we are assuming that the Fed will lower Fed funds by a further 50 basis points, sending this rate to a near-term trough of 1.50% later this year."

[AP]

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Economy shows resilience; jobless rate falls as dollar rises
Economy shows unexpected bounce: Jobless rate declines, dollar shows a bit of muscle
Jeannine Aversa
Economics Writer
Associated Press
Washington, D.C., U.S.
Saturday, 3 May 2008, 2:30 am U.S. EDT

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A shopper walks past a business in downtown Blue Island, Ill., Friday, May 2, 2008 with a window sign courting customers. - Photo: AP

The economy showed off unexpected signs of resilience Friday as job losses slowed, the dollar gained a bit of muscle for a change and there were even indications that food prices may be easing. The unemployment rate dipped, though that may not last.

The latest barometers flashed encouraging signs that the economic slowdown may not be as pronounced as some had feared. Still, there's much caution -- about housing, credit and other problems.

"Economic or financial conditions could take an unexpected stumble at any time," warned Stephen Stanley, chief economist at RBS Greenwich Capital.

Employers eliminated 20,000 jobs in April -- not nearly as many as the 81,000 in March, and the fewest monthly losses so far this year, the Labor Department reported. The unemployment rate dropped to 5%, from 5.1%.

Stresses were still evident. It was the fourth straight month that employers cut jobs -- bringing total losses to 260,000.

Many analysts were bracing for much more carnage. Yet, the new figures "can't be taken as a signal that the economy is out of the recession woods," said Nigel Gault, of Global Insight.

On Wall Street, investors initially responded enthusiastically to the employment news, with the Dow Jones industrial average rising more than 100 points, but the market gave back part of that gain and closed up 48.20 points. Investors were keeping their euphoria in check, especially since stocks had already shot nearly 190 points higher on Thursday.

Still, the tone in the market was clearly more upbeat. Thursday's advance came on a growing sense that the economy isn't as wounded from the credit crisis as many people have feared.

Investors were also reassured by the dollar's show of strength this week. The greenback's latest gains have come on expectations that the Federal Reserve is likely to hold interest rates steady -- a trend that makes U.S. assets more attractive to overseas buyers. The U.S. currency rose this week to a five-week high against the euro.

In turn, the dollar's advance has had an impact in the commodities market. Food prices -- such as for wheat and soybeans -- eased. And while oil did rise Friday, that was because of supply concerns rather than moves in the dollar.

"Things are a little brighter," Ken Mayland, president of ClearView Economics, said of all the developments. "The economy is seen as doing a little bit better" and that's contributing to the stronger dollar and calmer food prices, he said.

Another report out Friday showed orders to U.S. factories rose a bigger-than-expected 1.4% in March after two straight months of declines. Higher prices, though, accounted for part of the gain.

Businesses are handing out pink slips as they cope with an economy that is teetering on the edge of a recession, or possibly in one already. A severe housing slump, harder-to-get credit and financial turmoil have forced people and businesses to be more cautious in their spending. And that has hurt the economy.

To help relieve credit problems, the Federal Reserve announced Friday it would boost the availability of short-term loans to commercial banks to $150 billion in May from the $100 billion supplied in April. The goal is to supply a source of cash to squeezed banks so that they'll keep lending.

On the employment front, construction companies, manufacturers, retailers, mortgage brokers and temporary help firms were among those shedding jobs in April. Those losses eclipsed gains elsewhere, including education, health, hotels and motels, bars and restaurants, and the government.

All told, there were 7.6 million people unemployed as of April, up from 6.8 million a year earlier.

Voters are keenly worried about the country's economic problems and so are politicians -- in Congress, in the White House and on the campaign trail.

President Bush expressed hope Friday that the economic-stimulus rebates beginning to reach taxpayers this week will help lift activity. "This economy is going to come on. I'm confident it will," Bush said.

Workers with jobs saw scant wage gains.

Average hourly earnings for jobholders rose to $17.88 in April, a tiny 0.1% rise from the previous month. Over the past 12 months, wages have grown by 3.4%. If the job market weakens in the months ahead, wage growth probably will slow, too, making people even less inclined to spend. That would spell further trouble for the economy.

The new jobs figures come from two different statistical surveys, which can provide -- as in Friday's case -- a somewhat conflicting picture.

The seasonally adjusted overall civilian unemployment rate -- 5% in April -- is based on a survey of 60,000 households. It showed that 362,000 people said they found employment last month, outpacing the number of new people who couldn't find work. Economists tend to put more stock, however, in the much broader business survey of 400,000 work sites that was used to calculate the job loss figure.

To help bolster the economy, the Fed lowered interest rates on Wednesday, but signaled that its rate-cutting campaign could be drawing to a close.

Fed officials and the Bush administration are hoping that the Fed's aggressive rate cuts since September plus the government's $168 billion stimulus package will lift the country out of its slump in the second half of the year.

Even if that happens, economists predict the unemployment rate will climb higher, hitting 6% early next year.

Employers often are reluctant to beef up hiring until they feel certain that a recovery has staying power.

The economy advanced at a snail's pace of just 0.6% in the first three months of this year as people and businesses clamped down on their spending. That marked the second quarter in a row of such feeble growth.

"I think we are in a recession," said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Economy.com. Even thought the employment news was "encouraging ... it is much too premature to signal that the economic coast is clear."

[CNA]

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3M investing US$200m in new facility in Tuas
Channel NewsAsia
Friday, 2 May 2008, 2138 hrs

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3M is expanding its operations in Singapore. It is investing about US$200 million in a new manufacturing plant at Tuas.

The new facility will manufacture coatings for film-based products used in commercial, electronic and automotive applications.

3M already has a presence in Singapore - helping to augment its worldwide offering of 50,000 products, including post-it pads and scotch tapes.

The new facility in Tuas will focus on the production of a wide variety of specialty films.

These advanced coatings, which are designed to keep out heat, will help reduce air-conditioning loads for both cars and buildings.

Lee YiShyan, Minister of State, Trade and Industry, said: "3M told me that this is the largest overseas plant they (have) ever built, so we are very proud of this partnership.

"When completed in 12 months, it will be one of the superhub plants. It'll also bring in a lot of very high-tech quality, high value-added jobs for Singaporeans."

The new facility will also serve to boost 3M's research and development capability.

Jay Ihlenfeld, Senior VP, Asia Pacific, 3M, said: "We'll develop prototypes ... (for) our customers and then scale those new products up into full production on this site.

"We also see, as the future goes forward, expanding the capabilities and the different technologies that we practise on this site to create the innovative products that the customer expects from us."

The new facility will create about 250 jobs. 3M currently employs more than 900 employees in Singapore. Apart from the plant in Woodlands, it also has a customer innovation centre here.
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[The Sunday Times]

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Up to $150,000 for guaranteed place at Canadia school
Jane Ng
The Sunday Times
Sunday, 4 May 2008

Another international school has announced that it will guarantee places for students in return for up to $150,000, making it the third school to embrace hefty placement fees.

The Canadian International School is hoping to tap into the growing number of companies looking to secure places in good schools for the children of expatriate employees.

8% of the places at the school will be available under this scheme. It currently has about 1,700 students and will increase the numbers to more than 2,000 by August.

Principal Glenn Odland said the plan was a 'response to market conditions'.

'This programme is designed to allow corporations or individuals, who need to be able to guarantee places for students, to purchase such a guarantee,' said Dr Odland.

This would make it easier for firms to hire senior-level executives who have children of school-going ages.

For corporations, the price of a guaranteed place is $150,000 for the first child and $130,000 for the second.The scheme is open to individuals as well, at $100,000 a child.

The school joins the United World College (UWC) of South-east Asia and Tanglin Trust School, which earlier announced similar plans.

The rising expatriate population is causing a squeeze on places in international schools. The number of foreigners here went up from 798,000 in 2005 to 875,500 in 2006.

Many international schools report long waiting lists.

The Canadian International School has received 30% more applications than there are spaces available for its August intake.

The UWC has 1,000 on the application list for its interim Ang Mo Kio campus, which can take in 440 students, and the average waiting time for its Dover campus is four years.

A Tanglin Trust School spokesman said about 80 of 2,250 places at the school will be taken up by the guarantee scheme, which was launched in January.

The places have been bought by both individuals and companies, and the school has no immediate plans to increase the number of spots.

The UWC, whose guaranteed places are sold only to companies, declined to reveal the exact number of places taken up and would say only that it was 'very pleased with the general level of interest and uptake of the scheme. Demand has exceeded our expectations'.

Not all parents are going for such a scheme though; some are just joining the waiting list early.

Mr Niraj Parekh, 31, an investment banker, registered his then two-month-old daughter Isha at the UWC in November last year. He said it was a matter of being practical.

'The school said it's a first-come-first-served situation, so we take comfort in the fact that we're doing the best that we can for our daughter,' said Mr Parekh, whose spouse Rashmi is a housewife.

Isha will enter the school in 2012 when she turns five.

[Unreg¡stered]

Wah! The 999LH Aston Residence at Jalan Loyang Besar is hot man!

Launched during last Saturday, 26 April 2008, 10 of these 28 strata bungalows have been snapped up. They cost between $2.68M - $2.75M each.

.. you know Ambrosia??
.. the penthouses all snapped up recently ..

.. people are very rich ..
.. money is not an issue ..

URA reports 2 units of the 15-unit Shelford Suites sold in March at record prices for the Shelford area - $$1,869psf and $1,905psf.

March is the U-turn point.

It's not that "people are very rich".

It's that the rich people are getting richer and richer. So proportionately, the cost of the homes they buy becomes relatively more affordable.

I can't imagine now even places like Loyang at Pasir Ris are selling for $2.68 m to $2.75 m.

Looks like my dog Millie :millie: will never be able to stay in any form of bungalow, whether strata or otherwise. :(

So I have no choice but to use my imagination again. Below I imagine I'm staying at Aston Residence and that's my dog Millie licking my car as I drive out of the driveway which goes under the pool.

That sounds familiar doesn't it? Another Strata Bungalow Chateau La Salle also has the same concept. Somehow I feel Chateau La Salle looks nicer. More European style and cosy, but also costs more - $3.3 million.

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Went to Aston Residences on 1 May 2008. Another 3 sold.

Wow! Selling like hot cakes at $2.7 million each! :eek:

I think these landed/strata bungalows are usually bought by end users rather than speculators.

The window of opportunity of ever owning a bungalow in Singapore is fast disappearing.

I think it is now or never.

I'm afraid that the future divide is not going to be between the high earners and low earners, but between the bungalow dwellers vs the rest of the population.

Looks like I'm going to be on the wrong side of the divide, and my poor dog Millie. :millie:

suddenly so many good news on property sale, seem like market slowly picking up. Once trigger the buying spree, buyers will start to chase after all available property.

Mass market floor is $520-550, high high market also moving fast in March.

No wonder property counters performing so well recently, supporting STI index compared to other sector like Oil & Gas.

Let see when govt announced master plan for Spore in May, can it trigger like last year surging market.
Todate, 19 of the total 28 units of Aston Residence have been sold within 2 weeks of launch.

This is 68% sold within 2 weeks.

The buyers are back and they are back to buy!

[millie2]

My dog Millie :millie: also needs to live in a strata bungalow so that it can lick my car as I drive out of the carpark under the swimming pool.


cute dog millie :)

[jlrx]

Todate, 19 of the total 28 units of Aston Residence have been sold within 2 weeks of launch.

This is 68% sold within 2 weeks.

The buyers are back and they are back to buy!


cute dog millie :)

Dog is cute but cannot stay in a strata bungalow because poor owner does not have enough money. :2cents:

:millie:

Actually when I look closer, this Millie looks more like a hedgehog than a dog.

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[APR]

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Singapore’s apartment rentals jump 33%
Asia Property Report
May 2008

Singapore has now become the 5th most expensive place to rent in Asia, and 9th worldwide. This is according to a survey by HR solutions provider ECA International, which added that residential accommodation rental rates for a three-bedroom apartment have increased 33% from last year – the highest year to year percentage increases in Asia followed by Mumbai and Guangzhou.

“The demand for high-end accommodation has risen, driving up rental prices, which can be partly explained by companies expanding their operations in Singapore together with government initiatives to attract skilled workers from overseas,” Lee Quane, General Manager, ECA International Hong Kong, explains. “But at the same time, the supply of property available has been limited by a number of factors such as en bloc purchases by developers, which has exacerbated the situation.”

However, it is still less than half the rental cost of an equivalent property in Hong Kong, the survey’s most expensive location. In Tokyo, the 2nd most expensive Asian location, a three-bed apartment costs over 60% more to rent than in Singapore.

Six of the top 10 most expensive locations in the world are in Asia, with Mumbai (6th), Seoul (7th), Singapore (9th) and Ho Chi Minh City (10th) joining Hong Kong and Tokyo.

“On average, rental prices in Asia are approximately US$3,820; well above the global average of US$2,950. A robust economy and increased demand for high-end accommodation have been instrumental in driving rental prices up,” Quane adds.

[APR]

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Singapore’s March launches hit 7-month high
Robert Carry
Asia Property Report

The number of developments launched in Singapore during March 2008 was the highest in 7 months, the city state’s Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) has revealed.

Despite the fact that concerns about global real estate market slowdown have been circulating for some time, developers in Singapore have remained bullish amid continuing strong sales. According to a statement released today by the URA, “total island-wide new launches and take-up for non-landed properties in March rebounded from the February low, recording the highest level of new launches in 7 months”.

A total of 632 units were launched in March, some 84.3% higher than in February. Similarly, 293 units were sold in March a figure 79.8% increase from February. According to the URA, the rise suggests “a potential strengthening of developers and buyers sentiments island-wide.”

[APR]

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Market hints at recovery
Asia Property Report
May 2008

There are signs that buyer sentiment in the property market may be improving. According to the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA), the number of private homes sold in March leapt 80% from February.

Developers were even more positive, having launched more than 600 units for sale in March – about 85% more than the month before, and the highest in 7 months. However, taken as a whole, the first quarter was the worst since 2003. A total of 301 residential units, excluding executive condominiums, were sold last month, according to data released yesterday by the Urban Redevelopment Authority. In February, 174 units were sold.

Most of the increase in sales came from the high-end market where sales skyrocketed 80%, compared to the 31% jump in suburban region sales. “Developers’ sentiments on the mass market far exceeds the buyers’ expectations, which is evident in the number of launches and also the recent strong biddings in the 3 Government Land Sales site at Simei, West Coast Crescent and Yishun. Contrary to developers’ optimism, buyers maintain a more cautious outlook of the market as the economy is expected to ease in the next few months, despite having a strong projection of GDP at 7.2% in Q1 08,” Dr Chua Yang Liang – local director and head of research, South East Asia, Jones Lang LaSalle noted.

Prices also rose from 170.8 points in Q4 2007 to 178 points in Q1 2008. This represents an increase of 4.2%, compared with the 6.8% increase in the previous quarter. Further, rrices of non-landed private residential properties increased by 4.4% in the Core Central Region, 3.9% in the Rest of Central Region and 4.8% in the Outside Central Region in the same quarter.

[The Straits Times]

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Middle East investors 'looking to Southeast Asia'
Nicholas Fang
The Straits Times
Monday, 5 May 2008

Middle Eastern investors are increasingly looking to Singapore and other South-east Asian nations for deals as financial ties grow between the two regions.

So says Standard Chartered (Stanchart) Bank's group head for origination and client coverage, Mr V. Shankar.

Stanchart is well-positioned to become a leading player in this area. In the past year, it has advised on more than 40% of the deal flow from Middle East to this region, which totalled US$8 billion (S$10.9 billion).

The figure was up from the US$987 million in the 12 months preceding, and Mr Shankar believes it will continue to rise in the years ahead.

'The financial ties between the Middle East and Asia are strengthening by the day and we are seeing more East-East relationships being formed,' he said in a recent interview.

'Oil and natural gas from the Middle East are vital for China, Japan and all the fast-growing markets in the Asia-Pacific region, which are fast ramping up their infrastructure.

'And the oil-generated capital and liquidity in the Middle East are fuelling a search for investments with high returns.'

Mr Shankar added that a recent report by McKinsey estimated that Gulf countries would have US$9 trillion to invest by 2020.

Stanchart began boosting its presence in the Middle East three years ago and now has a team of 50 corporate advisers there.

Mr Shankar, who is also a member of Stanchart's group management committee, said this put the bank in an enviable position as Singapore's business with the Gulf looks set to soar.

'Between 2004 and 2006, total trade between Singapore and the Middle East shot up from US$20.9 billion to US$30.8 billion, an increase of 47 per cent.

'Currently, Singapore companies are working on more than $6 billion worth of projects in the Middle East.'

Stanchart is no stranger to deals between the Republic and Gulf countries. It recently advised the Al-Futtaim group in its successful bid for Singapore's oldest retailer, Robinson & Co.

Looking ahead, Mr Shankar said the bank would leverage on its experience and capabilities in the region to shore up its position as a major player.

'Stanchart is well-placed to seize future opportunities, thanks to our growing geographical reach and the scale and breadth of our products and capabilities.

'We have an established history in Singapore, having been in the market for 150 years, and we have been operating in the Middle East for more than 50 years. We feel we can act as a strong local bank in all the different markets for our clients.'

[Bloomberg]

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Worst Of Wall Street Crisis Is Over, Says Warren Buffett
Josh P. Hamilton and Betty Liu
Bloomberg
Omaha, Nebraska, U.S.
Saturday, 3 May 2008, 5.43pm U.S. CDT

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Warren Buffett, chief executive officer of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., speaks to the media during the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, on May 3, 2008. Photo: Chris Machian, Bloomberg

Warren Buffett, chief executive officer of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., said the global credit crunch has eased for bankers, and the Federal Reserve probably averted more failures by helping to rescue Bear Stearns Cos.

"The worst of the crisis in Wall Street is over," Buffett said today on Bloomberg Television. "In terms of people with individual mortgages, there's a lot of pain left to come." Buffett was interviewed before the Omaha, Nebraska-based company's annual meeting, attended by about 31,000 people.

Buffett, the world's richest man according to Forbes magazine, said the Fed acted properly when it arranged a $2.4 billion buyout in March of New York-based Bear Stearns by JPMorgan Chase & Co. The billionaire said he turned down the opportunity because he lacked enough capital and time to craft a solution. More failures and wider panic may have resulted if the regulators didn't halt the run on Bear Stearns, he said.

"The worry was that there would be contagion; it was a very real worry," Buffett said. "If Bear Stearns had gone, the next day, somebody else would have gone. It could've been a very, very, very chaotic situation."

Buffett, 77, said he was contacted in March before JPMorgan, the third-biggest U.S. bank by assets, agreed to buy Bear Stearns. The person calling him, whom he wouldn't identify, was "someone responsible" and wasn't from the Federal Reserve or the Treasury. The call lasted about half an hour, Buffett said.

Too Big for Buffett

"As I understand it, Bear Stearns had $65 billion due on Monday and I didn't have $65 billion," Buffett said. "I couldn't get my mind around that situation in the required time." New York-based JPMorgan was the right buyer for Bear Stearns, he added.

Berkshire had about $35 billion in cash as of March 31, according to a regulatory filing yesterday.

JPMorgan agreed in mid-March to acquire Bear Stearns, once the fifth-biggest U.S. securities firm, after customers grew concerned about the company's health and pulled out their money, leaving Bear Stearns short on cash. JPMorgan, which got financial support from the Federal Reserve, raised the purchase price a week later to $10 a share from $2 to mollify Bear Stearns shareholders who said they weren't getting enough.

The 24-company KBW Bank Index has advanced 14% since the Bear Stearns bailout was announced in March, and the 11- company Amex Securities Broker/Dealer Index has climbed 30%.

Credit Losses

In a question-and-answer session at the shareholder meeting, Buffett said that from a risk perspective, some banks got "too big to manage."

The world's largest banks and investment firms have recorded more than $300 billion of losses and writedowns tied to mortgages, bonds and loans.

Berkshire's own investment in derivative contracts recovered $500 million to $600 million of lost value since the end of March, Buffett said. The company will make "significant money" on the derivatives over the long term, he said at the meeting. Berkshire said yesterday the value of the investments had declined by $1.7 billion in the first quarter. The entire company's quarterly profit plunged 64% to $940 million.

Buffett is scheduled to embark on a 4-city European trip this month to scout potential acquisitions, including family-owned companies. He has been investing in China, Israel and the U.K. to spur profit growth after saying that U.S. investments meeting his criteria have become scarce.

International Earnings

"Over time we'd like to develop more international earnings," Buffett said. "If it's a $2 billion deal, fine; if it's a $20 billion dollar deal, fine."

Buffett, who made his first non-U.S. acquisition in 2006, paying $4 billion for 80% of Israel-based Iscar Metalworking Cos., said he can't predict the location of the next company Berkshire will acquire.

"They can come from Europe, they can come from the United States, you just never know," he said. "Somebody, someplace is going to have a situation where we fit. They're going to call me; I want to make sure I'm on their radar screen."

Buffett said during the meeting he'd like to buy businesses in India and China, and that he wanted to acquire one or two non-U.S. companies in the next three years. He is looking as competition forces down insurance rates in the U.S. for Berkshire, which typically gets about half its profit from insurance units including National Indemnity, General Re Corp. and Geico Corp.

The U.S. dollar will keep weakening and Buffett feels "no need to hedge" against currency risk when buying large companies outside the U.S., he said.

Landing From Mars

"If I landed from Mars today with a billion of Mars dollars, or whatever they call them on Mars, and I was thinking about where to put my money," he said. "I don't think I'd put the entire billion in U.S. dollars."

Berkshire Hathaway has spent $4 billion investing in the municipal auction-rate bond market, taking advantage of payouts that topped 10% after regular bidders fled the market. Markets were so disrupted, Buffett said, that bonds from the same issue were selling simultaneously from the same broker with yields of 6% and 11%.

Berkshire has risen about 22% in New York Stock Exchange composite trading during the past 12 months and gained about 4,700 percent in 20 years through Dec. 31, about six times more than the Standard & Poor's 500 Index including dividends.

[Rice eater]

Asia Fears Lost Decade, Unrest from Food Price Shock
By Reuters | 04 May 2008 | 11:09 PM
Soaring food prices may throw millions of Asians back into poverty, undo a decade of gains and stoke civil unrest, regional leaders said as they urged a boost to agricultural production to meet rising demand.

Asia -- home to two thirds of the world's poor -- risks rising social tension as a doubling of wheat and rice prices in the last year has slammed people who spend more than half their income on food, Japanese Finance Minister Fukushiro Nukaga said during the Asian Development Bank's annual meeting.

If food prices rise 20 percent, 100 million poor people across Asia could be forced back into extreme poverty, warned Indian Finance Secretary D. Subba Rao.

"In many countries that will mean the undoing of gains in poverty reduction achieved in the past decade of growth," Rao told the ADB's meeting in Madrid.

The ADB estimates that about 20 percent of people in Asia are presently living on less than $1 a day -- the international definition of extreme poverty -- compared to more than 60 percent who did so in the mid-1960s.

A 43 percent rise in global food prices in the year to March sparked violent protests in Cameroon and Burkina Faso as well as rallies in Indonesia following reports of starvation deaths.

Many governments have introduced food subsidies or export restrictions to counter rising costs, but they have only exacerbated price rises on global markets, Nukaga said. "Those hardest hit are the poorest segments of the population, especially the urban poor," Nukaga told delegates.

"It will have a negative impact on their living standards and their nutrition, a situation that may lead to social unrest and distrust," he added.

The ADB estimates the very poorest people in the Asia Pacific region spend 60 percent of their income on food and a further 15 percent on fuel -- the key basic commodities of life which have seen their prices rise relentlessly in the last year.

Poverty Time Bomb

Japan is one of 67 ADB member economies gathered in Spain to discuss measures to counter severe weather and rising demand that have ended decades of cheap food in developing nations.

The Asia-Pacific has three times the population of Europe -- around 1.5 billion people -- living on less than $2 a day.

Rice is a staple food in most Asian nations and any shortage threatens instability, making governments extremely sensitive to its price.

But the steadily rising cost of providing fuel and food subsidies harms budget finances, puts at risk the macroeconomic stability international investors demand in return for buying government bonds and, in some cases, curbs the access nations have to global financial markets.

Latest Business News from Asia

Indonesia, for example, has pledged to reduce its budget deficit by cutting fuel subsidies ahead of planned global bond sales this year worth around $12 billion.

"We have to reduce the budget deficit for investor confidence," Anggito Abimanyu, a senior Indonesian fiscal policy official told ADB delegates on Sunday, saying that fuel and electricity subsidies of $20.5 billion this year hampered efforts to raise money on international capital markets.

Decade-high inflation, driven by food and raw materials costs, has topped the agenda of the ADB's annual meeting.

The Manila-based multilateral lender has had to defend itself from U.S. criticism it is focused on middle income countries and has neglected Asia's rural and urban poor.

Smaller countries such as Cambodia urged the ADB to focus its lending on the poorest Asian states.

The Bank on Saturday called for immediate action from global governments to combat soaring food prices and twinned it with a pledge of fresh financial aid to help feed the Asia Pacific region's poorest nations.

Leading members Japan, China and India backed long-term ADB strategy to provide low-cost credit and technical assistance to raise agricultural productivity.

The United Nations said the rural poor represented a political time-bomb for Asia that could only be defused by higher agricultural investment and better technology.

"Unless you can look at the plight of the poorest farmers in the region and how they are going to add to the numbers of very poor, very deprived people, we are unnecessarily going to create a problem that will erupt into a political crisis," said Rajendra Pachauri, head of the U.N. panel on climate change.

[Unreg¡stered]

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Jobs data lifts U.S. blue chips
Jennifer Coogan
Reuters
New York, New York, U.S.
Friday, 2 May 2008, 4:49 PM U.S. EDT

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Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, 29 April 2008. - Photo: Brendan MeDermid, Reuters

Stocks made modest gains on Friday after jobs data that offered fresh evidence the economic slowdown is not as severe as feared, but technology shares faded on a surprise loss from Sun Microsystems Inc.

The government's stronger-than-expected April payrolls report helped oil stocks rebound sharply by easing fears about weaker U.S. demand for energy. Adding to the energy rally were higher-than-expected profit from Marathon Oil Corp and Chevron Corp, the second-largest U.S. oil company.

"People are willing to accept the fact that we may have a very slow, stagnant economy, but the prospect of a sharp downturn seems to be less and less likely, hence the sigh of relief," said Peter Kenny, managing director at Knight Equity Markets in Jersey City, New Jersey.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 48.20 points, or 0.37%, at 13,058.20. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 4.56 points, or 0.32%, at 1,413.90. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 3.72 points, or 0.15%, at 2,476.99.

For the week, the Dow gained 1.3%, the S&P rose 1.2% and the Nasdaq advanced 2.2%.

Sun, one of the biggest makers of computers used by businesses, sank 22.6% to close at $12.64 after the company late on Thursday blamed the slowing economy for its dismal earnings forecast.

Yahoo Inc's shares helped stem the Nasdaq's losses. Shares of the Internet company rose nearly 7% to $28.67. The company has intensified talks with Microsoft Corp in a last-minute effort to reach a friendly agreement on Microsoft's buyout offer, now worth $42 billion, a source familiar with the matter said. Microsoft slipped 16 cents to $29.24.

The Labor Department said 20,000 jobs were shed last month, marking a fourth straight monthly decline, but the cuts were fewer than the 80,000 which economists surveyed by Reuters had anticipated. The unemployment rate fell to 5.0% from 5.1%.

Oil shares were higher after U.S. crude futures rose $3.80 to settle at $116.32 a barrel.

Marathon shares rose 6% to $50.80 and Chevron rose 38 cents to $95.32. A big gainer in the oil patch was offshore driller Transocean Inc, which rose 4.2% to $151.92.
Wasted! Should have bought on Thursday.

[Badly burnt Speculator]

Slowdown may stretch into next year

SINGAPORE - To the eternal optimists who think that the Singapore economy will rebound from its lean patch in the months to come, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong offered a sobering projection: he expects the slowdown to continue into next year.

While the economy is on track to hit 4-6 per cent growth this year, Mr Lee sees its momentum slowing in the next few quarters as the United States economy limps along, dragged down by still-unfixed sub-prime mortgage problems.

And whether it's a V-shaped or U-shaped downturn in the US, it could extend the slowdown in Singapore's economy into 2009, Mr Lee told some 1,500 unionists yesterday at a National Trades Union Congress May Day Rally.

'The first quarter is good,' he said. 'Second, third, fourth quarters - prepare ourselves that it will slow down. And the slowdown may last into next year.'

It could be worse if the US falls into an L-shaped economic trajectory - the gloomiest scenario, when there is a severe and extended downturn in the US, like the decade-long recession Japan went into in the 1990s.

'If that happens, then America is in trouble,' Mr Lee said. 'So too Europe, so too Japan. And Singapore will be caught up in this and we will be in serious difficulties too.'

But he noted that most analysts don't think this is on the cards.

The best scenario for the US is a V-shaped downturn - a quick recession followed by a quick rebound - which is also the best scenario for Singapore, Mr Lee said. 'But it is hoping for the best'.

He said the US could easily slip into a U-shaped downturn because its underlying housing problems remain unsolved. The actions taken so far have only postponed the problems into the future.

'The property prices have to go down further,' Mr Lee said. 'When they go down, the banks will have more problems. When the banks have problems, they shrink. That will cause the economy to have more problems.'

In a U-shaped downturn, the bottoming will last longer and the US economy will take some time to sort itself out - perhaps until 2009, according to him.

'This could well happen and then Singapore too will be slowed down significantly,' Mr Lee warned.

'But whatever it is, we have to stay on our guard and stay prepared,' he said. 'Overall, I would expect V-shaped if we are lucky (or a) U-shaped downturn in the US - better plan on that.'

Whatever shape the US downturn takes, Mr Lee said the impact on the Singapore economy will be uneven. Construction, marine engineering, ports and shipyards will be 'all right', according to him.

'Construction will be okay because we have so many things building in Singapore,' Mr Lee said.

'Marine engineering will be okay because the shipyards are doing well. Ports will be okay because the port is highly competitive and bringing in a lot of business.'

But tourism, financial services and perhaps information technology will feel at least some pain.

All this suggests that Singapore's year-on-year economic growth in the coming quarters will fall below the surprisingly strong 7.2 per cent gain estimated for Q1.

'Essentially, Singapore has to be prepared for fairly rough weather ahead,' said Manu Bhaskaran of Centennial Group, a US-based economic consultancy.

He sees a prolonged period of 'meagre' economic growth in the US - and Europe and Japan are not going to take up the slack, because the leading indicators for these two large economies also point to a slowdown, according to him.

Mr Bhaskaran said Singapore has built up some resiliency in its services sector, which puts it in a better position than before to absorb the impact of a US recession. But even then, it remains an open economy and a downturn in the US, Europe and Japan at the same time will hit Singapore.

This article was first published in The Business Times on May 2, 2008.


Oh should have sold in November! Have to write off 40% atleast now.

[Twinkle Star]

Oh should have sold in November! Have to write off 40% atleast now.

Agreed. I would take the words of our PM seriously than follow Buffet. Slowdown could be a prolonged one. I see property falling badly. You better sell right away.

[Unreg¡stered]

Oh should have sold in November! Have to write off 40% atleast now.

Agreed. I would take the words of our PM seriously than follow Buffet. Slowdown could be a prolonged one. I see property falling badly. You better sell right away.
Badly burnt Speculator (aka Twinkle Star / Maddog):

Don't worry so much about the property prices in the US.
You have no money to own any property in the US.

The Singapore property, following the HongKong footsteps, is on its uptrend again.
Again, don't worry about it too. You can't afford any.

[Unreg¡stered]

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With modest job losses, U.S. economy defies doomsayers
Rob Lever
Agence France-Presse
Washington, D.C., U.S.
Friday, 2 May 2008, 3:18 PM U.S. EDT

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A job seeker searches for employment opportunities in Arlington Heights, Illinois in 2004. The US labor market held up better than expected in April despite fears of an economic slump, with 20,000 jobs cut in the month, the Labor Department reported Friday. - Photo: Tim Boyle, AFP

The US labor market held up better than expected in April, with 20,000 jobs cut in the month, according to data Friday that analysts said signaled a mild economic downturn but not a calamity.

The unemployment rate, based on a separate survey, rate fell a tenth of a percentage point to 5.0%, the Labor Department said.

The report was better than expected by private economists, who on average had forecast a loss of 75,000 jobs and a jobless rate of 5.2%.

"Job losses are way below the recession norm for this point of the business cycle, if this is recession," said Robert Brusca at FAO Economics. "Many things do not really add up for the recession forecasters."

The payrolls report, seen as one of the best indicators of economic momentum, comes amid fears that the world's largest economy may be headed for recession after being battered by a horrific decline in housing and a related credit squeeze. Yet the first-quarter report on US gross domestic product showed a small increase of 0.6%.

Avery Shenfeld at CIBC World Markets said the data still points to economic turmoil, with job declines in key areas such as manufacturing, construction and retailing.

"The report was milder than we thought but some of the details were not quite as encouraging," he said.

"If you isolate the cyclical industries, employment is dropping quite quickly. It's still not a sign the labor market is healthy."

The report showed the economy still hurting from the housing crisis. Construction shed 61,000 jobs and manufacturing lost 46,000.

That was offset in part by a gain of 37,000 in health care, and 27,000 in professional and technical services. The retail sector however lost 27,000 jobs.

Shenfeld said that the sector details show problems: "When you are trying to take the temperature of the economy and where it stands in the business cycle, you look at the cyclical industries like manufacturing, construction and retail."

President George W. Bush said the report was disappointing but expressed confidence in an economic recovery.

"That's not good enough for America. It's positive growth, but we can do better than that," he said of the report during a visit to St. Louis, Missouri.

Bush said the stimulus package anchored on tax rebates will help mitigate economic weakness.

"The good news is, is that we anticipated this. You know, last fall we started to get indications that the economy was going to, you know, slow down," he said.

Stephen Gallagher, economist at Societe Generale in New York, argued that the report suggests a decline for the overall economy but not a meltdown.

"Overall, the modest pullback supports a mild recession or downturn for the US economy," he said. "That is not good news, but the evidence lessens the fears of a deep or prolonged downturn."

On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve cut its base lending rate by a quarter-point to 2.0% in a move seen as further insurance against a deep downturn after a series of aggressive rate cuts since September.

Many analysts say the Fed is likely to pause in its rate-cutting cycle to assess the impact of its earlier actions as well as the 168-billion-dollar economic stimulus package.

Peter Kretzmer, senior economist at Bank of America, said Friday's employment report "will encourage the Fed to pause in its rate cycle, allowing the aggressive easing to date to impact the economy."

Paul Ferley, economist at RBC Capital Markets, said the Fed is still cautious about a soft economy and tight credit conditions.

"Although today's report did not show as great a drop in employment as feared, it is still indicative of labor markets shedding workers during the first four months of the year," he said.

"To help sustain growth beyond this and through 2009, we are assuming that the Fed will lower Fed funds by a further 50 basis points, sending this rate to a near-term trough of 1.50% later this year."
Yes, that's the way! Defy these doomsayers and their bullshits.

[Unregistereb]

Badly burnt Speculator (aka Twinkle Star / Maddog):

Don't worry so much about the property prices in the US.
You have no money to own any property in the US.

The Singapore property, following the HongKong footsteps, is on its uptrend again.
Again, don't worry about it too. You can't afford any.
Wah someone knows more than our PM.

[Unregistereb]

UBS May Cut 8,000 Jobs After 12 Billion-Franc Loss

By Elena Logutenkova

May 5 (Bloomberg) -- UBS AG may cut as many as 8,000 jobs as it grapples with the biggest credit writedowns of any European bank and a 12 billion-franc ($11.4 billion) first-quarter loss.

Switzerland's biggest bank, which had a 3 billion-franc profit a year earlier, is set to spell out plans for layoffs when it reports detailed results tomorrow. The company will probably say it's eliminating between 2,500 and 3,000 jobs in its investment bank, more than 10 percent of the division, two people familiar with the matter said May 2.

``UBS is scaling down investment banking,'' including reducing trading bets and giving up off-balance sheet units, said Frankfurt-based Landsbanki Kepler analyst Dirk Becker, who advises clients to ``reduce'' holdings of UBS. It is ``realistic'' to estimate that the company will fire one tenth of its 83,000 employees overall, he said.

Writedowns at the Zurich-based bank after the U.S. subprime mortgage meltdown have swelled to $38 billion over the past three quarters, a result of building a debt securities business at the peak of the market. Chairman Marcel Ospel, who replaced half of the executive board since losses began in 2007, stepped down last month. UBS already cut 1,500 jobs late last year.

UBS rose 20 centimes, or 0.5 percent, to 37 francs by 9:01 a.m. in Swiss trading. It has lost 50 percent in the past 12 months, making it the fifth-worst performer in the Bloomberg Europe Banks and Financial Services Index of 59 stocks.

The Swiss bank got shareholder approval last month to raise 15 billion francs in a rights offer after receiving 13 billion francs from investors in Singapore and the Middle East in March.

Winning Back Trust

``They've got to do something to win back the trust of shareholders,'' said Peter Thorne, an analyst at Helvea in London with an ``accumulate'' recommendation on the shares. ``I wouldn't be surprised if it's more'' than 8,000 layoffs, he said.

New York-based spokesman Doug Morris declined to comment.

The world's biggest financial companies have announced more than $319 billion of writedowns and loan losses, with UBS in second place behind New York-based Citigroup Inc., which has written down $41 billion. Banks and securities firms have cut about 48,000 jobs in the past 10 months, including 15,200 positions at Citigroup and 5,220 at Merrill Lynch & Co.

Credit Suisse Group, Switzerland's second-biggest bank, and Deutsche Bank AG, Germany's biggest, reported quarterly losses for the first time in five years for the three months ended in March. Credit Suisse had a 2.15 billion-franc loss after 5.3 billion francs in writedowns, while Deutsche Bank lost 131 million euros ($204 million) after a 2.7 billion-euro markdown.

`High Price'

UBS Chief Executive Officer Marcel Rohner, 43, and newly elected Chairman Peter Kurer, 58, told shareholders at the annual meeting last month that they plan to slim down the securities unit while focusing on maintaining the ``core'' wealth management franchise after Swiss clients pulled money in the first quarter.

Investment bank head Jerker Johansson, 51, a former Morgan Stanley banker who started in mid-March, inherited a division that contributed about 40 percent of UBS's profit in 2006 before the credit-market freeze.

``UBS was among the last to participate in debt and they've had to pay a rather high price,'' said Jan Leroy, a Brussels- based fund manager at Petercam Asset Management with more than $29 billion in holdings. ``They should now focus on preventing collateral damage to their asset management and private banking business.''

Investors, including Luqman Arnold, a former UBS president whose London-based investment group holds more than 1.1 percent of the bank's shares, are demanding a split of the investment bank from other units.

Integrated Model

While UBS has maintained a commitment to its so-called integrated bank model, Kurer told shareholders that he will examine its risks and rewards.

The investment bank ``will no longer aim to offer everything to everyone,'' Rohner said at the meeting. The unit will have to earn capital for future growth and ``surpluses from the wealth management business will be returned to shareholders through dividends or share buybacks,'' he said.

UBS was among the first stung by the subprime contagion when its Dillon Read Capital Management LP hedge fund, run by former investment banking chief John Costas, lost 150 million francs in the first quarter of last year. By May that year, UBS decided to close it.

Hedge Fund Losses

Losses at the hedge fund, which accounted for 16 percent of about $19 billion in writedowns last year, are dwarfed by markdowns that the bank had to make on collateralized debt obligations that its CDO desk accumulated instead of selling the bonds, UBS's report to shareholders released last month shows. The CDO desk was responsible for two-thirds of 2007's writedowns.

The report, sent to the Swiss Federal Banking Commission, says top management was too slow to realize the severity of UBS's subprime problem and didn't distinguish in compensation between ``return generated by skill'' and ``returns made from exploiting UBS's comparatively low cost of funding.''

``UBS will scale back investment banking and hire in asset management,'' said Florian Esterer, a senior portfolio manager at Swisscanto Asset Management, which oversees $63 billion in Zurich. The investment banking unit ``should consider developing a niche strategy,'' he said.

[Unreg¡stered]

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Economy shows resilience; jobless rate falls as dollar rises
Economy shows unexpected bounce: Jobless rate declines, dollar shows a bit of muscle
Jeannine Aversa
Economics Writer
Associated Press
Washington, D.C., U.S.
Saturday, 3 May 2008, 2:30 am U.S. EDT

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A shopper walks past a business in downtown Blue Island, Ill., Friday, May 2, 2008 with a window sign courting customers. - Photo: AP

The economy showed off unexpected signs of resilience Friday as job losses slowed, the dollar gained a bit of muscle for a change and there were even indications that food prices may be easing. The unemployment rate dipped, though that may not last.

The latest barometers flashed encouraging signs that the economic slowdown may not be as pronounced as some had feared. Still, there's much caution -- about housing, credit and other problems.

"Economic or financial conditions could take an unexpected stumble at any time," warned Stephen Stanley, chief economist at RBS Greenwich Capital.

Employers eliminated 20,000 jobs in April -- not nearly as many as the 81,000 in March, and the fewest monthly losses so far this year, the Labor Department reported. The unemployment rate dropped to 5%, from 5.1%.

Stresses were still evident. It was the fourth straight month that employers cut jobs -- bringing total losses to 260,000.

Many analysts were bracing for much more carnage. Yet, the new figures "can't be taken as a signal that the economy is out of the recession woods," said Nigel Gault, of Global Insight.

On Wall Street, investors initially responded enthusiastically to the employment news, with the Dow Jones industrial average rising more than 100 points, but the market gave back part of that gain and closed up 48.20 points. Investors were keeping their euphoria in check, especially since stocks had already shot nearly 190 points higher on Thursday.

Still, the tone in the market was clearly more upbeat. Thursday's advance came on a growing sense that the economy isn't as wounded from the credit crisis as many people have feared.

Investors were also reassured by the dollar's show of strength this week. The greenback's latest gains have come on expectations that the Federal Reserve is likely to hold interest rates steady -- a trend that makes U.S. assets more attractive to overseas buyers. The U.S. currency rose this week to a five-week high against the euro.

In turn, the dollar's advance has had an impact in the commodities market. Food prices -- such as for wheat and soybeans -- eased. And while oil did rise Friday, that was because of supply concerns rather than moves in the dollar.

"Things are a little brighter," Ken Mayland, president of ClearView Economics, said of all the developments. "The economy is seen as doing a little bit better" and that's contributing to the stronger dollar and calmer food prices, he said.

Another report out Friday showed orders to U.S. factories rose a bigger-than-expected 1.4% in March after two straight months of declines. Higher prices, though, accounted for part of the gain.

Businesses are handing out pink slips as they cope with an economy that is teetering on the edge of a recession, or possibly in one already. A severe housing slump, harder-to-get credit and financial turmoil have forced people and businesses to be more cautious in their spending. And that has hurt the economy.

To help relieve credit problems, the Federal Reserve announced Friday it would boost the availability of short-term loans to commercial banks to $150 billion in May from the $100 billion supplied in April. The goal is to supply a source of cash to squeezed banks so that they'll keep lending.

On the employment front, construction companies, manufacturers, retailers, mortgage brokers and temporary help firms were among those shedding jobs in April. Those losses eclipsed gains elsewhere, including education, health, hotels and motels, bars and restaurants, and the government.

All told, there were 7.6 million people unemployed as of April, up from 6.8 million a year earlier.

Voters are keenly worried about the country's economic problems and so are politicians -- in Congress, in the White House and on the campaign trail.

President Bush expressed hope Friday that the economic-stimulus rebates beginning to reach taxpayers this week will help lift activity. "This economy is going to come on. I'm confident it will," Bush said.

Workers with jobs saw scant wage gains.

Average hourly earnings for jobholders rose to $17.88 in April, a tiny 0.1% rise from the previous month. Over the past 12 months, wages have grown by 3.4%. If the job market weakens in the months ahead, wage growth probably will slow, too, making people even less inclined to spend. That would spell further trouble for the economy.

The new jobs figures come from two different statistical surveys, which can provide -- as in Friday's case -- a somewhat conflicting picture.

The seasonally adjusted overall civilian unemployment rate -- 5% in April -- is based on a survey of 60,000 households. It showed that 362,000 people said they found employment last month, outpacing the number of new people who couldn't find work. Economists tend to put more stock, however, in the much broader business survey of 400,000 work sites that was used to calculate the job loss figure.

To help bolster the economy, the Fed lowered interest rates on Wednesday, but signaled that its rate-cutting campaign could be drawing to a close.

Fed officials and the Bush administration are hoping that the Fed's aggressive rate cuts since September plus the government's $168 billion stimulus package will lift the country out of its slump in the second half of the year.

Even if that happens, economists predict the unemployment rate will climb higher, hitting 6% early next year.

Employers often are reluctant to beef up hiring until they feel certain that a recovery has staying power.

The economy advanced at a snail's pace of just 0.6% in the first three months of this year as people and businesses clamped down on their spending. That marked the second quarter in a row of such feeble growth.

"I think we are in a recession," said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Economy.com. Even thought the employment news was "encouraging ... it is much too premature to signal that the economic coast is clear."
Yes, show them the muscles.

[Unregisterd]

UBS May Cut 8,000 Jobs After 12 Billion-Franc Loss

By Elena Logutenkova

May 5 (Bloomberg) -- UBS AG may cut as many as 8,000 jobs as it grapples with the biggest credit writedowns of any European bank and a 12 billion-franc ($11.4 billion) first-quarter loss.

Switzerland's biggest bank, which had a 3 billion-franc profit a year earlier, is set to spell out plans for layoffs when it reports detailed results tomorrow. The company will probably say it's eliminating between 2,500 and 3,000 jobs in its investment bank, more than 10 percent of the division, two people familiar with the matter said May 2.

``UBS is scaling down investment banking,'' including reducing trading bets and giving up off-balance sheet units, said Frankfurt-based Landsbanki Kepler analyst Dirk Becker, who advises clients to ``reduce'' holdings of UBS. It is ``realistic'' to estimate that the company will fire one tenth of its 83,000 employees overall, he said.

Writedowns at the Zurich-based bank after the U.S. subprime mortgage meltdown have swelled to $38 billion over the past three quarters, a result of building a debt securities business at the peak of the market. Chairman Marcel Ospel, who replaced half of the executive board since losses began in 2007, stepped down last month. UBS already cut 1,500 jobs late last year.

UBS rose 20 centimes, or 0.5 percent, to 37 francs by 9:01 a.m. in Swiss trading. It has lost 50 percent in the past 12 months, making it the fifth-worst performer in the Bloomberg Europe Banks and Financial Services Index of 59 stocks.

The Swiss bank got shareholder approval last month to raise 15 billion francs in a rights offer after receiving 13 billion francs from investors in Singapore and the Middle East in March.

Winning Back Trust

``They've got to do something to win back the trust of shareholders,'' said Peter Thorne, an analyst at Helvea in London with an ``accumulate'' recommendation on the shares. ``I wouldn't be surprised if it's more'' than 8,000 layoffs, he said.

New York-based spokesman Doug Morris declined to comment.

The world's biggest financial companies have announced more than $319 billion of writedowns and loan losses, with UBS in second place behind New York-based Citigroup Inc., which has written down $41 billion. Banks and securities firms have cut about 48,000 jobs in the past 10 months, including 15,200 positions at Citigroup and 5,220 at Merrill Lynch & Co.

Credit Suisse Group, Switzerland's second-biggest bank, and Deutsche Bank AG, Germany's biggest, reported quarterly losses for the first time in five years for the three months ended in March. Credit Suisse had a 2.15 billion-franc loss after 5.3 billion francs in writedowns, while Deutsche Bank lost 131 million euros ($204 million) after a 2.7 billion-euro markdown.

`High Price'

UBS Chief Executive Officer Marcel Rohner, 43, and newly elected Chairman Peter Kurer, 58, told shareholders at the annual meeting last month that they plan to slim down the securities unit while focusing on maintaining the ``core'' wealth management franchise after Swiss clients pulled money in the first quarter.

Investment bank head Jerker Johansson, 51, a former Morgan Stanley banker who started in mid-March, inherited a division that contributed about 40 percent of UBS's profit in 2006 before the credit-market freeze.

``UBS was among the last to participate in debt and they've had to pay a rather high price,'' said Jan Leroy, a Brussels- based fund manager at Petercam Asset Management with more than $29 billion in holdings. ``They should now focus on preventing collateral damage to their asset management and private banking business.''

Investors, including Luqman Arnold, a former UBS president whose London-based investment group holds more than 1.1 percent of the bank's shares, are demanding a split of the investment bank from other units.

Integrated Model

While UBS has maintained a commitment to its so-called integrated bank model, Kurer told shareholders that he will examine its risks and rewards.

The investment bank ``will no longer aim to offer everything to everyone,'' Rohner said at the meeting. The unit will have to earn capital for future growth and ``surpluses from the wealth management business will be returned to shareholders through dividends or share buybacks,'' he said.

UBS was among the first stung by the subprime contagion when its Dillon Read Capital Management LP hedge fund, run by former investment banking chief John Costas, lost 150 million francs in the first quarter of last year. By May that year, UBS decided to close it.

Hedge Fund Losses

Losses at the hedge fund, which accounted for 16 percent of about $19 billion in writedowns last year, are dwarfed by markdowns that the bank had to make on collateralized debt obligations that its CDO desk accumulated instead of selling the bonds, UBS's report to shareholders released last month shows. The CDO desk was responsible for two-thirds of 2007's writedowns.

The report, sent to the Swiss Federal Banking Commission, says top management was too slow to realize the severity of UBS's subprime problem and didn't distinguish in compensation between ``return generated by skill'' and ``returns made from exploiting UBS's comparatively low cost of funding.''

``UBS will scale back investment banking and hire in asset management,'' said Florian Esterer, a senior portfolio manager at Swisscanto Asset Management, which oversees $63 billion in Zurich. The investment banking unit ``should consider developing a niche strategy,'' he said.

More pain huh??? When will it end???

[Seng]

Getting desperate and frustrated?
Can't read the words properly?

... the unemployment rate dropped to 5% ...

Oh poor guys fighting over US jobless rate. First save your jobs guys. Discuss Singapore here.
..........
Wah! Change here, change there .. from US to Singapore, then Singapore to US, then ..... So desperate meh?

[Unreg¡stered]

http://www.ap.org/media/images/logo.gif
Economy shows resilience; jobless rate falls as dollar rises
Economy shows unexpected bounce: Jobless rate declines, dollar shows a bit of muscle
Jeannine Aversa
Economics Writer
Associated Press
Washington, D.C., U.S.
Saturday, 3 May 2008, 2:30 am U.S. EDT

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A shopper walks past a business in downtown Blue Island, Ill., Friday, May 2, 2008 with a window sign courting customers. - Photo: AP

The economy showed off unexpected signs of resilience Friday as job losses slowed, the dollar gained a bit of muscle for a change and there were even indications that food prices may be easing. The unemployment rate dipped, though that may not last.

The latest barometers flashed encouraging signs that the economic slowdown may not be as pronounced as some had feared. Still, there's much caution -- about housing, credit and other problems.

"Economic or financial conditions could take an unexpected stumble at any time," warned Stephen Stanley, chief economist at RBS Greenwich Capital.

Employers eliminated 20,000 jobs in April -- not nearly as many as the 81,000 in March, and the fewest monthly losses so far this year, the Labor Department reported. The unemployment rate dropped to 5%, from 5.1%.

Stresses were still evident. It was the fourth straight month that employers cut jobs -- bringing total losses to 260,000.

Many analysts were bracing for much more carnage. Yet, the new figures "can't be taken as a signal that the economy is out of the recession woods," said Nigel Gault, of Global Insight.

On Wall Street, investors initially responded enthusiastically to the employment news, with the Dow Jones industrial average rising more than 100 points, but the market gave back part of that gain and closed up 48.20 points. Investors were keeping their euphoria in check, especially since stocks had already shot nearly 190 points higher on Thursday.

Still, the tone in the market was clearly more upbeat. Thursday's advance came on a growing sense that the economy isn't as wounded from the credit crisis as many people have feared.

Investors were also reassured by the dollar's show of strength this week. The greenback's latest gains have come on expectations that the Federal Reserve is likely to hold interest rates steady -- a trend that makes U.S. assets more attractive to overseas buyers. The U.S. currency rose this week to a five-week high against the euro.

In turn, the dollar's advance has had an impact in the commodities market. Food prices -- such as for wheat and soybeans -- eased. And while oil did rise Friday, that was because of supply concerns rather than moves in the dollar.

"Things are a little brighter," Ken Mayland, president of ClearView Economics, said of all the developments. "The economy is seen as doing a little bit better" and that's contributing to the stronger dollar and calmer food prices, he said.

Another report out Friday showed orders to U.S. factories rose a bigger-than-expected 1.4% in March after two straight months of declines. Higher prices, though, accounted for part of the gain.

Businesses are handing out pink slips as they cope with an economy that is teetering on the edge of a recession, or possibly in one already. A severe housing slump, harder-to-get credit and financial turmoil have forced people and businesses to be more cautious in their spending. And that has hurt the economy.

To help relieve credit problems, the Federal Reserve announced Friday it would boost the availability of short-term loans to commercial banks to $150 billion in May from the $100 billion supplied in April. The goal is to supply a source of cash to squeezed banks so that they'll keep lending.

On the employment front, construction companies, manufacturers, retailers, mortgage brokers and temporary help firms were among those shedding jobs in April. Those losses eclipsed gains elsewhere, including education, health, hotels and motels, bars and restaurants, and the government.

All told, there were 7.6 million people unemployed as of April, up from 6.8 million a year earlier.

Voters are keenly worried about the country's economic problems and so are politicians -- in Congress, in the White House and on the campaign trail.

President Bush expressed hope Friday that the economic-stimulus rebates beginning to reach taxpayers this week will help lift activity. "This economy is going to come on. I'm confident it will," Bush said.

Workers with jobs saw scant wage gains.

Average hourly earnings for jobholders rose to $17.88 in April, a tiny 0.1% rise from the previous month. Over the past 12 months, wages have grown by 3.4%. If the job market weakens in the months ahead, wage growth probably will slow, too, making people even less inclined to spend. That would spell further trouble for the economy.

The new jobs figures come from two different statistical surveys, which can provide -- as in Friday's case -- a somewhat conflicting picture.

The seasonally adjusted overall civilian unemployment rate -- 5% in April -- is based on a survey of 60,000 households. It showed that 362,000 people said they found employment last month, outpacing the number of new people who couldn't find work. Economists tend to put more stock, however, in the much broader business survey of 400,000 work sites that was used to calculate the job loss figure.

To help bolster the economy, the Fed lowered interest rates on Wednesday, but signaled that its rate-cutting campaign could be drawing to a close.

Fed officials and the Bush administration are hoping that the Fed's aggressive rate cuts since September plus the government's $168 billion stimulus package will lift the country out of its slump in the second half of the year.

Even if that happens, economists predict the unemployment rate will climb higher, hitting 6% early next year.

Employers often are reluctant to beef up hiring until they feel certain that a recovery has staying power.

The economy advanced at a snail's pace of just 0.6% in the first three months of this year as people and businesses clamped down on their spending. That marked the second quarter in a row of such feeble growth.

"I think we are in a recession," said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Economy.com. Even thought the employment news was "encouraging ... it is much too premature to signal that the economic coast is clear."
Yes, stay resilience. That's the way!

[Unreg¡stered]

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Jobs data lifts U.S. blue chips
Jennifer Coogan
Reuters
New York, New York, U.S.
Friday, 2 May 2008, 4:49 PM U.S. EDT

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Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, 29 April 2008. - Photo: Brendan MeDermid, Reuters

Stocks made modest gains on Friday after jobs data that offered fresh evidence the economic slowdown is not as severe as feared, but technology shares faded on a surprise loss from Sun Microsystems Inc.

The government's stronger-than-expected April payrolls report helped oil stocks rebound sharply by easing fears about weaker U.S. demand for energy. Adding to the energy rally were higher-than-expected profit from Marathon Oil Corp and Chevron Corp, the second-largest U.S. oil company.

"People are willing to accept the fact that we may have a very slow, stagnant economy, but the prospect of a sharp downturn seems to be less and less likely, hence the sigh of relief," said Peter Kenny, managing director at Knight Equity Markets in Jersey City, New Jersey.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 48.20 points, or 0.37%, at 13,058.20. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 4.56 points, or 0.32%, at 1,413.90. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 3.72 points, or 0.15%, at 2,476.99.

For the week, the Dow gained 1.3%, the S&P rose 1.2% and the Nasdaq advanced 2.2%.

Sun, one of the biggest makers of computers used by businesses, sank 22.6% to close at $12.64 after the company late on Thursday blamed the slowing economy for its dismal earnings forecast.

Yahoo Inc's shares helped stem the Nasdaq's losses. Shares of the Internet company rose nearly 7% to $28.67. The company has intensified talks with Microsoft Corp in a last-minute effort to reach a friendly agreement on Microsoft's buyout offer, now worth $42 billion, a source familiar with the matter said. Microsoft slipped 16 cents to $29.24.

The Labor Department said 20,000 jobs were shed last month, marking a fourth straight monthly decline, but the cuts were fewer than the 80,000 which economists surveyed by Reuters had anticipated. The unemployment rate fell to 5.0% from 5.1%.

Oil shares were higher after U.S. crude futures rose $3.80 to settle at $116.32 a barrel.

Marathon shares rose 6% to $50.80 and Chevron rose 38 cents to $95.32. A big gainer in the oil patch was offshore driller Transocean Inc, which rose 4.2% to $151.92.
DJI already above 13,000 because of the strength of the economy and the declining unemployment? This is good news!

[Unreg¡stered]

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3M investing US$200m in new facility in Tuas
Channel NewsAsia
Friday, 2 May 2008, 2138 hrs

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3M is expanding its operations in Singapore. It is investing about US$200 million in a new manufacturing plant at Tuas.

The new facility will manufacture coatings for film-based products used in commercial, electronic and automotive applications.

3M already has a presence in Singapore - helping to augment its worldwide offering of 50,000 products, including post-it pads and scotch tapes.

The new facility in Tuas will focus on the production of a wide variety of specialty films.

These advanced coatings, which are designed to keep out heat, will help reduce air-conditioning loads for both cars and buildings.

Lee YiShyan, Minister of State, Trade and Industry, said: "3M told me that this is the largest overseas plant they (have) ever built, so we are very proud of this partnership.

"When completed in 12 months, it will be one of the superhub plants. It'll also bring in a lot of very high-tech quality, high value-added jobs for Singaporeans."

The new facility will also serve to boost 3M's research and development capability.

Jay Ihlenfeld, Senior VP, Asia Pacific, 3M, said: "We'll develop prototypes ... (for) our customers and then scale those new products up into full production on this site.

"We also see, as the future goes forward, expanding the capabilities and the different technologies that we practise on this site to create the innovative products that the customer expects from us."

The new facility will create about 250 jobs. 3M currently employs more than 900 employees in Singapore. Apart from the plant in Woodlands, it also has a customer innovation centre here.
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EDB is doing a good job of bringing more MNCs into Singapore or expanding their investment in Singapore.

[Reuters]

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Global stocks hit 4-month highs, cheered by US data
Anshuman Daga
Reuters
Singapore
Monday, 5 May 2008, Singapore Time

Asian shares rose to their strongest in nearly four months on Monday and the dollar held on to most of last week's gains after jobs data suggested the U.S. economic slowdown may not be as severe as investors had expected.

Commodities extended Friday's advance, with gold and grains higher, while Treasuries were flat.

Stock markets in Australia and Singapore gained 0.5%, while Hong Kong was steady. Volumes were thin as Japan and Korea were closed for national holidays. UK markets are also shut on Monday.

European equities were set for a weaker start, with Germany's DAX futures FDXc1 down 0.2% and France's CAC futures FCEc1 off 0.4%.

By 0600 GMT, MSCI's measure of Asian stocks outside Japan was up 0.2% at 498.9 after rising 1.7% on Friday. The index hit its highest level since Jan 17.

It jumped 8% last month, led by battered financials on expectations the global credit crisis may have reached a turning point. Still the index is still down 6% this year.

U.S. stocks ended higher on Friday after data showed the world's largest economy shedding jobs at a slower pace than expected, easing concerns about the risk of a deep recession.

The U.S. lost 20,000 jobs last month, fewer than the 80,000 that economists had anticipated.

Still, investor Warren Buffett, the world's richest person, said on Sunday the U.S. economy was in recession and banks would face more pain.

In Asian markets, shares in China's top e-commerce firm Alibaba.com Ltd were high profile losers, down 4% after Microsoft Corp abandoned its bid to buy for Alibaba's major investor Yahoo Inc.

Microsoft's move could be positive for U.S. stocks on Monday as it is expected to drive up the software company's heavily weighted shares.

U.S. Rate Cuts Almost Over

Markets will focus on Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's speech on Monday on mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures.

The U.S. dollar was a shade softer but held on to most of last week's gains, supported by expectations the Federal Reserve will not need to cut interest rates again to cushion the economy from the credit crisis.

"The drop in the unemployment rate has strengthened the market's conviction that the Fed is done," said Darren Gibbs, an economist at Deutsche Bank.

The Federal Reserve lowered its benchmark federal funds rate on April 30 by one-quarter point to 2% in what may be the last in a series of cuts to help the economy cope with a housing slump and credit market turmoil.

The euro rose to $1.5465, nearly 0.3% above Friday's late level of $1.5424 but still well below April's record highs around $1.6018.

The yen remained weak as returning risk appetite encouraged traders to borrow yen at low interest rates to invest in high yielding currencies, such as the Australian and New Zealand dollars. One U.S. dollar bought 105.22 yen, above a 13-year low of 95.71, hit in March.

The European Central Bank (ECB) and Bank of England are expected keep rates on hold this week. In Australia, markets see little chance of an increase in the cash rate at the central bank's meeting on Tuesday. "The bigger picture for forex markets remains that we think the ECB is being gradually forced by the data flow into accepting that interest rates need to come lower, while the Fed rate cutting cycle is in the end game," UBS forex strategist Ashley Davies said in a note.

In commodities, oil rose after jumping more than 3% last week, supported by further supply disruptions. U.S. light crude for June delivery CLc1 was up 0.2% at $116.5 a barrel.

Gold rebounded as bargain hunters snapped up bullion after a fall to a 4-month low last week, but trading was thin.

Gold ose to $862.95/864.15 an ounce from $855.80/857.00 an ounce late in New York on Friday, when it tumbled to $845 an ounce, its lowest since Jan. 2.

[AFP]

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STI closes slightly higher
Agence France-Presse
Singapore
Monday, 5 May 2008

Singapore shares finished higher on Monday with the benchmark Straits Times Index up 11.94 points or 0.37% to 3,248.04.

Up to 1.4 billion shares exchanged hands.

Gainers outweighed losers 355 to 285.

Official data released in the United States on Friday showed the US labour market held up better than expected in April, with 20,000 jobs cut in the month. Analysts said the figures signaled a mild economic downturn but not a calamity.

The unemployment rate, based on a separate survey, fell a tenth of a percentage point to 5.0%, the US Labor Department said.

The payrolls report is seen as one of the best indicators of economic momentum and came after some economists said the US, battered by a sharp decline in housing and a related credit squeeze, had already entered a recession.

'With recession fears subsiding, we may see a good run-up in the short-term,' Westcomb Securities said in a note to clients.

Banking shares ended higher, with DBS Group rising 16 cents to 20.40 Singapore dollars, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp gaining one cent to 9.01 and United Overseas Bank up 6 cents at 21.36 a day ahead of its first-quarter earnings report.

Property heavyweights were mixed, with CapitaLand down three cents at 7.06, City Developments dropping 16 cents to 12.34 and Keppel Land up two cents at 6.02.

Singapore Airlines advanced 10 cents to 16.26 and Singapore Telecommunications finished two cents lower at 3.87.

[Twinkle Star]

http://www.afp.com/english/home/imgs/logo.gif
STI closes slightly higher
Agence France-Presse
Singapore
Monday, 5 May 2008

Singapore shares finished higher on Monday with the benchmark Straits Times Index up 11.94 points or 0.37% to 3,248.04.

Up to 1.4 billion shares exchanged hands.

Gainers outweighed losers 355 to 285.

Official data released in the United States on Friday showed the US labour market held up better than expected in April, with 20,000 jobs cut in the month. Analysts said the figures signaled a mild economic downturn but not a calamity.

The unemployment rate, based on a separate survey, fell a tenth of a percentage point to 5.0%, the US Labor Department said.

The payrolls report is seen as one of the best indicators of economic momentum and came after some economists said the US, battered by a sharp decline in housing and a related credit squeeze, had already entered a recession.

'With recession fears subsiding, we may see a good run-up in the short-term,' Westcomb Securities said in a note to clients.

Banking shares ended higher, with DBS Group rising 16 cents to 20.40 Singapore dollars, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp gaining one cent to 9.01 and United Overseas Bank up 6 cents at 21.36 a day ahead of its first-quarter earnings report.

Property heavyweights were mixed, with CapitaLand down three cents at 7.06, City Developments dropping 16 cents to 12.34 and Keppel Land up two cents at 6.02.

Singapore Airlines advanced 10 cents to 16.26 and Singapore Telecommunications finished two cents lower at 3.87.


Slowdown may stretch into next year

SINGAPORE - To the eternal optimists who think that the Singapore economy will rebound from its lean patch in the months to come, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong offered a sobering projection: he expects the slowdown to continue into next year.

While the economy is on track to hit 4-6 per cent growth this year, Mr Lee sees its momentum slowing in the next few quarters as the United States economy limps along, dragged down by still-unfixed sub-prime mortgage problems.

And whether it's a V-shaped or U-shaped downturn in the US, it could extend the slowdown in Singapore's economy into 2009, Mr Lee told some 1,500 unionists yesterday at a National Trades Union Congress May Day Rally.

'The first quarter is good,' he said. 'Second, third, fourth quarters - prepare ourselves that it will slow down. And the slowdown may last into next year.'

It could be worse if the US falls into an L-shaped economic trajectory - the gloomiest scenario, when there is a severe and extended downturn in the US, like the decade-long recession Japan went into in the 1990s.

'If that happens, then America is in trouble,' Mr Lee said. 'So too Europe, so too Japan. And Singapore will be caught up in this and we will be in serious difficulties too.'

But he noted that most analysts don't think this is on the cards.

The best scenario for the US is a V-shaped downturn - a quick recession followed by a quick rebound - which is also the best scenario for Singapore, Mr Lee said. 'But it is hoping for the best'.

He said the US could easily slip into a U-shaped downturn because its underlying housing problems remain unsolved. The actions taken so far have only postponed the problems into the future.

'The property prices have to go down further,' Mr Lee said. 'When they go down, the banks will have more problems. When the banks have problems, they shrink. That will cause the economy to have more problems.'

In a U-shaped downturn, the bottoming will last longer and the US economy will take some time to sort itself out - perhaps until 2009, according to him.

'This could well happen and then Singapore too will be slowed down significantly,' Mr Lee warned.

'But whatever it is, we have to stay on our guard and stay prepared,' he said. 'Overall, I would expect V-shaped if we are lucky (or a) U-shaped downturn in the US - better plan on that.'

Whatever shape the US downturn takes, Mr Lee said the impact on the Singapore economy will be uneven. Construction, marine engineering, ports and shipyards will be 'all right', according to him.

'Construction will be okay because we have so many things building in Singapore,' Mr Lee said.

'Marine engineering will be okay because the shipyards are doing well. Ports will be okay because the port is highly competitive and bringing in a lot of business.'

But tourism, financial services and perhaps information technology will feel at least some pain.

All this suggests that Singapore's year-on-year economic growth in the coming quarters will fall below the surprisingly strong 7.2 per cent gain estimated for Q1.

'Essentially, Singapore has to be prepared for fairly rough weather ahead,' said Manu Bhaskaran of Centennial Group, a US-based economic consultancy.

He sees a prolonged period of 'meagre' economic growth in the US - and Europe and Japan are not going to take up the slack, because the leading indicators for these two large economies also point to a slowdown, according to him.

Mr Bhaskaran said Singapore has built up some resiliency in its services sector, which puts it in a better position than before to absorb the impact of a US recession. But even then, it remains an open economy and a downturn in the US, Europe and Japan at the same time will hit Singapore.

This article was first published in The Business Times on May 2, 2008.


Oh slowdown to go on into 2009...........so painful!!!

[Unreg¡stered]

Oh slowdown to go on into 2009...........so painful!!!
why painful ah ??
haha you deserved it !!

[WSJ]

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Buffett Sounds Note of Optimism
Karen Richardson
The Wall Street Journal
Monday, 5 May 2008

http://s.wsj.net/public/resources/images/MI-AQ222_BERKSH_20080504181136.jpg
All eyes were on Warren Buffett at Berkshire Hathaway's annual meeting at the Qwest Center in Omaha, Nebraska, U.S..

Investors, take heart: Warren Buffett sees investment opportunities in the U.S. stock and bond markets, and believes widespread financial turmoil from the credit crunch is behind us.

Speaking to reporters Sunday, a day after Berkshire Hathaway Inc.'s annual fan-fest for shareholders at the Qwest Center in Omaha, Neb., both Mr. Buffett, 77 years old, and Vice Chairman Charlie Munger, 84, criticized regulators, politicians and accountants for lax oversight of financial institutions that are at the center of the subprime-mortgage crisis, and, according to Mr. Munger, were guilty of "deep conflicts of interest."

"The regulators and the accountants have failed us terribly," Mr. Munger said, adding that mark-to-market accounting rules are necessary but can obscure other problems within a company.

This year at Mr. Buffett's annual gathering for shareholders -- often called "Woodstock for Capitalists" -- 31,000 Buffett enthusiasts were serenaded by Fruit of the Loom minstrels, enjoyed samples of Berkshire portfolio companies such as Dilly Bars and watched artist Michael Israel speed-paint a Buffett portrait with Benjamin Moore paints.

Mr. Buffett credited the Federal Reserve for helping to avert a more-widespread crisis on Wall Street by orchestrating a bailout of Bear Stearns Cos. that "prevented, in my opinion, the contagion where you're going to have runs on investment banks."

Bank losses "aren't over by a long shot, but a lot of it has already been recognized," he said, adding that the depth of the housing crisis, unemployment and other economic factors would help determine how long the write-downs continue.

"The idea of financial panic -- that has been pretty much taken care of," he said.

As to buying opportunities, Mr. Buffett told shareholders, "We are happy to invest in businesses that earn their money in the euro, or in companies that derive their earnings in Germany, or from the sterling in the [United Kingdom], because I don't have a feeling that those currencies are going to depreciate in a big way against the dollar." Sunday he said a Berkshire unit is close to buying a midsize company in the U.K., but he didn't elaborate. This month, Mr. Buffett is scheduled to tour five European cities looking for more buying opportunities.

What may not be an attractive buying opportunity? Berkshire itself, Mr. Buffett said on Saturday. "Anyone who expects us to come close to replicating the past should sell their stock. It's not gonna happen," he said. "You may have something better to do with your money than buy Berkshire."

Mr. Buffett also said Berkshire Hathaway's four-month-old municipal-bond insurance business garnered more than $400 million of premiums in the first quarter, boasting that this made its new business bigger than that of its rival. "This whole company has been built in just a couple of months," Mr. Buffett said.

Sunday he took a few jabs at rivals, saying he was confounded by the ability of his municipal-bond insurer's biggest rivals, MBIA Inc. and Ambac Financial Corp., to retain their triple-A ratings.

"If you can find another illustration of a company whose stock that's gone down by 95% in one year and is still rated triple-A, I have yet to see it," Mr. Buffett said.

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No, his face isn't on the dollar bill. Yet. - Photo: Reuters

[UnregIsered]

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Buffett Sounds Note of Optimism
Karen Richardson
The Wall Street Journal
Monday, 5 May 2008

http://s.wsj.net/public/resources/images/MI-AQ222_BERKSH_20080504181136.jpg
All eyes were on Warren Buffett at Berkshire Hathaway's annual meeting at the Qwest Center in Omaha, Nebraska, U.S..

Investors, take heart: Warren Buffett sees investment opportunities in the U.S. stock and bond markets, and believes widespread financial turmoil from the credit crunch is behind us.

Speaking to reporters Sunday, a day after Berkshire Hathaway Inc.'s annual fan-fest for shareholders at the Qwest Center in Omaha, Neb., both Mr. Buffett, 77 years old, and Vice Chairman Charlie Munger, 84, criticized regulators, politicians and accountants for lax oversight of financial institutions that are at the center of the subprime-mortgage crisis, and, according to Mr. Munger, were guilty of "deep conflicts of interest."

"The regulators and the accountants have failed us terribly," Mr. Munger said, adding that mark-to-market accounting rules are necessary but can obscure other problems within a company.

This year at Mr. Buffett's annual gathering for shareholders -- often called "Woodstock for Capitalists" -- 31,000 Buffett enthusiasts were serenaded by Fruit of the Loom minstrels, enjoyed samples of Berkshire portfolio companies such as Dilly Bars and watched artist Michael Israel speed-paint a Buffett portrait with Benjamin Moore paints.

Mr. Buffett credited the Federal Reserve for helping to avert a more-widespread crisis on Wall Street by orchestrating a bailout of Bear Stearns Cos. that "prevented, in my opinion, the contagion where you're going to have runs on investment banks."

Bank losses "aren't over by a long shot, but a lot of it has already been recognized," he said, adding that the depth of the housing crisis, unemployment and other economic factors would help determine how long the write-downs continue.

"The idea of financial panic -- that has been pretty much taken care of," he said.

As to buying opportunities, Mr. Buffett told shareholders, "We are happy to invest in businesses that earn their money in the euro, or in companies that derive their earnings in Germany, or from the sterling in the [United Kingdom], because I don't have a feeling that those currencies are going to depreciate in a big way against the dollar." Sunday he said a Berkshire unit is close to buying a midsize company in the U.K., but he didn't elaborate. This month, Mr. Buffett is scheduled to tour five European cities looking for more buying opportunities.

What may not be an attractive buying opportunity? Berkshire itself, Mr. Buffett said on Saturday. "Anyone who expects us to come close to replicating the past should sell their stock. It's not gonna happen," he said. "You may have something better to do with your money than buy Berkshire."

Mr. Buffett also said Berkshire Hathaway's four-month-old municipal-bond insurance business garnered more than $400 million of premiums in the first quarter, boasting that this made its new business bigger than that of its rival. "This whole company has been built in just a couple of months," Mr. Buffett said.

Sunday he took a few jabs at rivals, saying he was confounded by the ability of his municipal-bond insurer's biggest rivals, MBIA Inc. and Ambac Financial Corp., to retain their triple-A ratings.

"If you can find another illustration of a company whose stock that's gone down by 95% in one year and is still rated triple-A, I have yet to see it," Mr. Buffett said.

http://s.wsj.net/public/resources/images/MI-AQ231_BERKSH_20080504200731.jpg
No, his face isn't on the dollar bill. Yet. - Photo: Reuters

Berkshire Hathaway Profit Falls 64% on Derivatives Loss

By Reuters | 02 May 2008

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway said on Friday that first-quarter profit tumbled 64 percent, hurt by $1.6 billion of pre-tax losses tied to derivatives contracts.

Net income fell to $940 million, or $607 per Class A share, from $2.6 billion, or $1,682, a year earlier.

Operating profit fell 13 percent to $1.93 billion, or $1,247 per share, from $2.21 billion, or $1,434.

Omaha, Nebraska-based Berkshire is a holding company with more than 70 operating units and a wide array of stock investments.

It typically generates about half its business from insurance and reinsurance.

The derivative losses stemmed from Berkshire's exposure to contracts designed to make money if junk bond stay out of default and stock indexes rise.

In February, Buffett revealed that Berkshire ended 2007 with $40 billion of exposure to 94 of these contracts.


Berkshire said it had a $1.2 billion unrealized loss on put options it wrote on the Standard & Poor's 500 and three foreign stock indexes.

It also reported a $490 million unrealized loss on contracts that require payouts if some high-yield bonds default between now and 2013.

Other contracts brought the net loss derivatives down to $1.6 billion.

Accounting rules require the company to regularly report unrealized gains and losses in earnings, Berkshire said.

The exposure may at first seem odd given that, in his shareholder letter in 2003, Buffett called derivatives "financial weapons of mass destruction, carrying dangers that, while now latent, are potentially lethal." But in his letter this year, Buffett said Berkshire had already been paid for its derivatives contracts, giving it cash to invest, and that "there is no counterparty risk," He also said shareholders should be prepared for gains and losses that could "easily" top $1 billion in a given quarter.

In Friday trading, Berkshire's Class A shares Berkshire Hathaway Inc fell $300 to $133,600, while its Class B shares fell $12 to $4,448.

[Twinkle Star]

Berkshire Hathaway Profit Falls 64% on Derivatives Loss

By Reuters | 02 May 2008

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway said on Friday that first-quarter profit tumbled 64 percent, hurt by $1.6 billion of pre-tax losses tied to derivatives contracts.

Net income fell to $940 million, or $607 per Class A share, from $2.6 billion, or $1,682, a year earlier.

Operating profit fell 13 percent to $1.93 billion, or $1,247 per share, from $2.21 billion, or $1,434.

Omaha, Nebraska-based Berkshire is a holding company with more than 70 operating units and a wide array of stock investments.

It typically generates about half its business from insurance and reinsurance.

The derivative losses stemmed from Berkshire's exposure to contracts designed to make money if junk bond stay out of default and stock indexes rise.

In February, Buffett revealed that Berkshire ended 2007 with $40 billion of exposure to 94 of these contracts.


Berkshire said it had a $1.2 billion unrealized loss on put options it wrote on the Standard & Poor's 500 and three foreign stock indexes.

It also reported a $490 million unrealized loss on contracts that require payouts if some high-yield bonds default between now and 2013.

Other contracts brought the net loss derivatives down to $1.6 billion.

Accounting rules require the company to regularly report unrealized gains and losses in earnings, Berkshire said.

The exposure may at first seem odd given that, in his shareholder letter in 2003, Buffett called derivatives "financial weapons of mass destruction, carrying dangers that, while now latent, are potentially lethal." But in his letter this year, Buffett said Berkshire had already been paid for its derivatives contracts, giving it cash to invest, and that "there is no counterparty risk," He also said shareholders should be prepared for gains and losses that could "easily" top $1 billion in a given quarter.

In Friday trading, Berkshire's Class A shares Berkshire Hathaway Inc fell $300 to $133,600, while its Class B shares fell $12 to $4,448.

Ofcourse Buffet is not God. Berkshire could lose like any other company...

[Unreg¡stered]

Ofcourse Buffet is not God. Berkshire could lose like any other company...
But we all choose to follow him.
Let's see you win or we win.

[Unreg¡stered]

But we all choose to follow him.
Let's see you win or we win.
smart move .. follow W. Buffett sure boleh .. follow Twinkle Star / maddog sure mati ..

[Cut Cut]

Layoffs Loom at Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan, Lehman

05 May 2008

Wall Street is being hit by another wave layoffs, with Morgan Stanley, Lehman Brothers and JPMorgan Chase all set to axe staff in the near future.

Morgan Stanley is planning another round of layoffs in the coming days, finalizing a plan to slash another 5 percent from its securities-firm workforce, or 1,500 employees, CNBC has learned. And Lehman will announce another round of cuts in addition to those already begun as early as next week.

People inside Morgan say the cuts will be across all business units, except brokers who make money largely on a commission basis and usually leave on their own when markets drop or business slumps. Morgan Stanley Morgan Stanley has 46,000 employees, including 8,000 brokers.

"We are constantly evaluating business conditions to ensure we are right-sized and we continue to do that," a Morgan Stanley spokesperson said when asked for comment. A Lehman spokeswoman declined to comment.

The cutbacks reflect the souring business environment on Wall Street. Morgan Stanley has already announced a $9 billion writedown stemming from a wrong-way bet on the mortgage-bond market, and has announced losses due to the bad trades.

Morgan rebounded in the first quarter of 2008, reporting net income of $1.5 billion. But business conditions remain weak, and profit margins are being squeezed across the securities business. By comparison, Morgan’s first quarter profits of $2.5 billion for the first quarter of 2007 were nearly twice as large as its first quarter 2008 results.

People inside Morgan say CEO John Mack believes the 5 percent cut, which will begin any day now and continue through the end of June, may be the last round of job cuts at the company this year, which has already announced job reductions of 5 percent, or around 2,800 employees.

Mack’s plan, these people say, is to slash 10 percent of the firm’s workforce during 2008, though he is leaving his options open to cut more if business conditions don’t improve. “Hopefully this is it for 2008, but you never know,” a Morgan executive told CNBC.

Widespread Wall Street Layoffs

Elsewhere on Wall Street, JPMorgan Chase JPMorgan Chase & Co is cutting its own staff to make room for incoming Bear Stearns Bear Stearns Cos Inc executives it's hired as part of its purchase of that firm. According to one senior executive at JPMorgan, the firm also wants to "right size" the business.

JPMorgan is expected to cut more than half of Bear Stearns' 14,000 former employees, though CNBC has learned that JPMorgan has already offered jobs to around 4,000 former Bear workers. Senior people inside JPMorgan say the firm has no hard figure for the size of the layoffs.

Meanwhile, CNBC has learned that Lehman Brothers Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc next week also is expected to add to the 4,900 layoffs it has already announced.

Chief executives of major wall street firms tell CNBC that the unofficial head-count reduction on Wall Street overall is 10 percent per firm as a result of losses and declining business stemming from the disappearance, at least for now, of the once-lucrative structured finance business.

AND WE ALL THOUGHT THAT IT IS OVER.

[Unregistered.]

Fed Survey Shows More U.S. Banks Tighten Loan Terms

By Scott Lanman

May 5 (Bloomberg) -- The Federal Reserve said the share of banks making it tougher for companies and consumers to borrow approached a record after the subprime-mortgage collapse made them more reluctant to lend.

The quarterly Senior Loan Officers' Survey, published in Washington today, underscores the Fed's concern that $318 billion of credit losses and writedowns among financial firms is causing a credit crunch. The survey, conducted last month, also indicates that the Fed's interest-rate cuts and loans to banks have failed so far to defuse the threat to the six-year economic expansion.

``It's going to be a headwind to growth,'' said Keith Hembre, chief economist at Minneapolis-based FAF Advisors Inc., which oversees $107 billion. ``The change from being readily available and cheap to less available and more expensive is going to deter a lot of borrowing activity.''

Most banks increased loan rates over their cost of funds for commercial and industrial borrowing, according to the central bank's quarterly survey of senior loan officers released today in Washington. The proportion of banks raising such rates rose to a net of 70 percent compared to 45 percent in a January report.

The survey data were available to central bank policy makers last week when they cut interest rates by a quarter percentage point.

The report covered 56 domestic banks and 21 foreign institutions. The American banks together have $6.1 trillion in assets, representing about 64 percent of the country's $9.5 trillion total for all domestically chartered, federally insured commercial banks.

`Downside' Risks

Policy makers last week signaled they are ready to hold off on further rate cuts as they assess the impact of the 3.25 percentage points of reductions since September. They dropped a reference to ``downside'' risks to growth from their previous statement.

At the same time, officials acknowledged in their April 30 statement that ``tight credit conditions and the deepening housing contraction are likely to weigh on economic growth over the next few quarters.''

Traders anticipate that the Fed will leave its main interest rate unchanged at 2 percent through October, based on futures prices on the Chicago Board of Trade.

``The net fractions of domestic banks reporting tighter lending standards were close to, or above, historical highs for nearly all loan categories in the survey,'' today's Fed report said.

Commercial Property

In commercial real estate, a net 80 percent of U.S. banks said they tightened lending standards, about the same as the January survey. The results of both surveys are about the highest since the central bank began seeking information on the subject in 1990. A net 35 percent of U.S. banks reported slower demand, less than January's 47 percent.

For home loans, the proportion of U.S. banks making it tougher for prime borrowers, those with the best credit, rose to about 60 percent from 53 percent. About one-fourth of U.S. banks reported slower borrowing for prime mortgages and 30 percent said nontraditional loans were weaker, both ``significantly smaller'' numbers of banks than in the January survey.

``I think we're back to 1980s lending'' in terms of acceptable credit records and down payments, David Kittle, the chairman-elect of the Mortgage Bankers Association, said today. Kittle, chief executive officer of Principle Wholesale Lending Inc. in Louisville, Kentucky, spoke at a conference hosted by the trade group in Boston.

Middle Market

The Fed's rate reductions since September have failed to put much of a dent in the cost of a mortgage. The average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage was 6.06 percent last week, down from 6.46 percent at the start of September though up from 5.45 percent in January, according to Freddie Mac.

A net 15 percent of large U.S. banks said demand increased from large and middle-market companies for commercial and industrial loans. The respondents attributed the rise to borrowing that ``shifted to their banks from other bank or nonbank sources,'' which became ``less attractive.''

At the same time, a similar proportion said demand from small companies slowed, citing a drop in ``customers' needs to finance investment in plant and equipment,'' the Fed said.

In response to special survey questions on home-equity lines of credit, about half of U.S. banks said they tightened terms on existing loans, mainly because of declines in home values below appraised values, as well as increased defaults and changes in borrowers' finances.

Services Growth

Today's report comes amid signs the U.S. economy is weathering the housing and credit contractions. A report today showed service industries unexpectedly grew for the first time since December, while the economy as a whole expanded at a 0.6 percent annual pace in the first quarter, matching the pace of the last three months of 2007.

Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke is scheduled later today to speak in New York on mortgage foreclosures, his first public comments since last week's Federal Open Market Committee meeting.

Bernanke's speech coincides with the advance of legislation backed by Democrats that would create a program at the Federal Housing Administration insuring as much as $300 billion in refinanced mortgages. The House is scheduled to consider the bill on Wednesday.

Foreclosure filings rose 57 percent in March from a year earlier, according to Irvine, California-based RealtyTrac Inc.

[Remove]

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/images/CNAlogo.gif
Semiconductor industry expected to see positive growth this year
Rachel Kelly
Channel NewsAsia
Monday, 5 May 2008, 2232 hrs

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/imagegallery/store/php0lJzXT.jpg

The semiconductor industry in Southeast Asia is expected to see as much as ....................
...............................................................
...............................................................
This is another unrelated post which needs to be removed. We don't work in the semiconductor industry.

[Telegraph]

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Worst of credit crunch may be over, says BoE
The worst of the credit crisis may now be over and markets could soon be on the road to recovery, the Bank of England believes.
Edmund Conway
Economics Editor
Telegraph
London, U.K.
Friday, 2 May 2008, 2:26AM Singapore Time

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/telegraph/multimedia/archive/00666/credit-crunch-404_666795c.jpg

In a report likely to reassure families struggling with soaring mortgage bills and falling house prices, the Bank's deputy governor, Sir John Gieve, said London's troubled money markets could soon recover from what is widely regarded as the worst crisis since the Great Depression.

He said: "The most likely path ahead is that confidence and risk appetite will return gradually in the coming months."

He indicated that Britain is now on a knife-edge. In one direction lies an eventual recovery; in the other six months or more of even deeper financial turmoil.

However, even if there is a swift recovery, it would take months, and possibly years, before many households feel the benefit, the Bank warned. It said highly-indebted families and buy-to-let investors are at significant risk in the coming months.

It also refused to rule out further falls in house prices in the coming months, after Nationwide declared that home values are now falling year-on-year.

In its Financial Stability Report, published today, the Bank said that the mood had darkened to such a degree in the City and on Wall Street that the reality was now significantly brighter than many had feared.

It said the prices of the stricken financial investments at the heart of the crisis had fallen so dramatically that they may now represent a bargain for long-term investors.

The credit crisis originated in the American housing market, where many homeowners defaulted on their mortgages, causing millions of pounds of losses at banks and investors around the world.

However, in recent months a wider sense of fear and paranoia has intensified as the crunch caused the collapse of Northern Rock and US investment bank Bear Stearns.

The Bank's report also warns that many "high-risk borrowers" will face mortgage rate increases of around 2.5% as they move off cheap fixed rate deals onto their lenders' standard variable rate deal. It says that buy-to-let investors are struggling to keep their investments afloat.

Chief Secretary to the Treasury Yvette Cooper said: "No matter how strong the long term fundamentals, the housing market will face pressures while the credit squeeze continues. The most important thing to help home owners and home buyers now is to get credit markets moving again."

[AFP]

http://www.afp.com/english/home/imgs/logo.gif
Asian nations agree to set up crisis fund
Daniel Silva
Agence France-Presse
Madrid, Spain
Monday, 5 May 2008, 3:20AM Singapore Time

http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/afp/20080504/capt.cps.nbv25.040508212020.photo00.photo.default-512x321.jpg
Economic Ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) pose during the opening ceremony of The 14th ASEAN economic ministers retreat and related meetings in Nusa Dua, on the island of Bali on 3 May 2008. Finance ministers of 13 Asian nations agreed to set up a foreign exchange pool of at least US$80 billion (€52 billion) to be used in the event of another regional crisis. - Photo: Sonny Tumbelaka, AFP

Finance ministers of 13 Asian nations agreed here on Sunday to set up a foreign exchange pool of at least US$80 billion (€52 billion) to be used in the event of another regional financial crisis.

China, Japan and South Korea will provide 80% of the funds, with the rest coming from the 10 members of ASEAN, they said in a joint statement issued after talks on the sidelines of an Asian Development Bank meeting in Madrid.

The 13 nations agreed after the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis to set up a mainly bilateral currency swap scheme known as the Chiang Mai Initiative (CMI) to protect their currencies from turmoil in the future.

At the ADB's last annual meeting in Japan in May 2007, they decided to set aside part of their foreign reserves for a multi-nation system of reserves for use in emergencies, but did not decide on the size of the pool.

"We are committed to further accelerate our work in order to reach consensus on all of the elements which include concrete conditions eligible for borrowing and contents of convenants specified in borrowing arrangements," the statement said.

The foreign exchange pool would be self-managed and be governed by a single contract that will be legally binding, it added.

Vietnam's Finance Minister Vu Van Ninh, who co-chaired the Madrid meeting, said the 13 nations would now work to develop a way of monitoring the fund.

"We think it is very important to have a rigorous surveillance system, especially in the context that regional economies have made an important and big integration into the world economy," he told reporters.

Japanese Finance Minister Fukushiro Nukaga, the other meeting co-chair, did not give a timeline for the the creation of the fund when asked, saying only that it "should be achievable in terms of its objectives."

The creation of the pool is a big step towards the creation af an Asian equivalent of the Washington-based International Monetary Fund (IMF).

During the 1997-1998 Asian financial crisis Indonesia, Thailand and South Korea had to borrow heavily from the IMF to boost their finances as investors sold their currencies.

The IMF forced the governments of the three nations to make unpopular spending cuts, sell state-owned firms and raise interest rates in exchange for the loans of over US$100 billion.

Asian economies are being challenged by rising energy and commodity prices as well as the vulnerability of financial markets, the finance ministers said in the statement.

"The regional economy has continued its strong growth and is forecast to remain robust although somewhat weaker," it said.

"We confirmed the importance of taking appropriate actions to ensure that economic activity continues at a sustained pace by balancing policies to deal with these risks," it added.

The ADB predicts Asia's developing economies will expand by 7.6% in 2008, its lowest level in five years, after surging ahead 8.7% last year.

Inflation in the region should hit 5.1% this year, its highest level since the 1997-1998 financial crisis.

The 13 countries are China, Japan, South Korea and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), made up of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

[Boon]

This place is no longer a forum but a "who can cut and paste plus highlight the most in different font size and colours" area.
Maybe there should be a news area where people can post news instead of needlessly pasting articles after articles of news. Honestly speaking, econ data comes out almost everyday + stks indices change everyday, so there is no end to this cut & paste mentality...I'd like to hear constructive arguments from both sides and not have to scroll down 10 pages to find one comment (minus away 9 pages of other comments which argue over the articles being posted).

[2ndTimeLucky]

Agreed, Boon. The first two weeks after registration was made compulsory were great. Suddenly the noise level dropped. But now the spammers are back. Sigh.

[jlrx]

This place is no longer a forum but a "who can cut and paste plus highlight the most in different font size and colours" area.
Maybe there should be a news area where people can post news instead of needlessly pasting articles after articles of news. Honestly speaking, econ data comes out almost everyday + stks indices change everyday, so there is no end to this cut & paste mentality...I'd like to hear constructive arguments from both sides and not have to scroll down 10 pages to find one comment (minus away 9 pages of other comments which argue over the articles being posted).

Maybe the forum administrator can rename this thread to "Cut-and-Paste Section". I'm also quite tired of reading all these meaningless cut-and-paste news, it's not as though I don't have internet access to these articles myself. I'm a paid subscriber of both the Straits Times online and Business Times online. I read all Business Times articles at 4:00 am every morning when the latest news comes out.

So I post in the other threads e.g. "That condo is moving out of reach (http://forums.condosingapore.com/showthread.php?t=2447)" or "Plot Ratio (http://forums.condosingapore.com/showthread.php?t=2451)" etc. Just hope they don't go over to there ... :doh:


Agreed, Boon. The first two weeks after registration was made compulsory were great. Suddenly the noise level dropped. But now the spammers are back. Sigh.

The problem was, during those two weeks, hardly anyone come to this website (except a few like Boon and me :ashamed1: ). The forum was like ... dead, with the "latest post" being made like "2 days ago". So much so that I even had time to create some artwork of the "Tan Chin Tuan mansion" in 1939.

So sometimes you also need these spammers and those "porn" guys to "liven" up the forum a bit. :doh:

[DRSG]

Maybe the forum administrator can rename this thread to "Cut-and-Paste Section". I'm also quite tired of reading all these meaningless cut-and-paste news, it's not as though I don't have internet access to these articles myself. I'm a paid subscriber of both the Straits Times online and Business Times online. I read all Business Times articles at 4:00 am every morning when the latest news comes out.

So I post in the other threads e.g. "That condo is moving out of reach (http://forums.condosingapore.com/showthread.php?t=2447)" or "Plot Ratio (http://forums.condosingapore.com/showthread.php?t=2451)" etc. Just hope they don't go over to there ... :doh:



The problem was, during those two weeks, hardly anyone come to this website (except a few like Boon and me :ashamed1: ). The forum was like ... dead, with the "latest post" being made like "2 days ago". So much so that I even had time to create some artwork of the "Tan Chin Tuan mansion" in 1939.

So sometimes you also need these spammers and those "porn" guys to "liven" up the forum a bit. :doh:


The situation here reminds me of October 26 2007.When DPS withdrawn,all speculators were fenced out.

[Roadrunner]

The situation here reminds me of October 26 2007.When DPS withdrawn,all speculators were fenced out.
They have all disappeared to another thread:
http://forums.condosingapore.com/showthread.php?t=2472

[Unreg¡stered]

They have all disappeared to another thread:
http://forums.condosingapore.com/showthread.php?t=2472
Interesting. Thanks!