Unemployment Rate To Rise In Malaysia

US tech firms in Malaysia face falling sales, job cuts
Source: Bloomberg

SALES by US electronics makers in Malaysia will fall this year and next as a global recession saps demand for Dell Inc computers and other devices, the head of an industry group said.

Electronics manufacturers in the Southeast Asian nation will probably have to cut jobs next year after reducing overtime and letting workers take longer Christmas holidays this year to lower costs, said Wong Siew Hai, chairman of the Kuala Lumpur-based American Malaysian Chamber of Commerce’s electronics industry group.

“They are very uncertain and very concerned,” Wong said in a telephone interview yesterday from Penang, a manufacturing base for Dell, Intel Corp and other US companies. “Next year you will see the real impact. If there’s a world recession and the economic impact is going to be great, they have to do something, nobody will be spared.”

Malaysia cut interest rates for the first time since 2003 this week, seeking to bolster domestic demand as recessions in the US, Japan and Europe hurt exports and threaten factory jobs across Asia. Retrenchments in Malaysia’s manufacturing industry jumped almost five-fold to 10,182 in the third quarter, central bank data show.

“It’s inevitable when the operating environment slows down, you should expect a rise in retrenchments,” said Lee Heng Guie, chief economist at CIMB Investment Bank Bhd in Kuala Lumpur.

Malaysia’s unemployment rate may rise to as high as 4.2 per cent from 3.6 per cent now as job cuts in 2008 will likely exceed the average of the past five years, he said.

Production Falls

Export sales by the American Chamber’s 17 electronics companies may decline this year, instead of growing 0.4 per cent as predicted in July, Wong said. Sales, which gained 7.1 per cent to RM73.8 billion (US$20.4 billion) in 2007, may fall further next year, he said.

The government, which has announced a RM7 billion spending plan to spur growth, needs to help manufacturers by cutting utility costs, Wong said.

Electronics companies are only able to forecast orders weeks ahead now, down from monthly and quarterly projections previously, he said.

“The visibility is very short, things are changing very fast,” Wong said. “This seems like the worst crisis so far.” Most if not all of the industry group’s members have reduced overtime work at their factories, and more than half plan to have longer-than-normal Christmas production shutdowns, he said.

Some are considering shorter work weeks and have delayed their capital investment to “conserve costs,” he added.

Malaysia’s industrial production fell for the first time in 18 months in September. The government this month slashed its growth forecast for 2009 to an eight-year low of 3.5 per cent and predicted a decline in exports next year as the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression pushed economies from Singapore to New Zealand into recession.

Intel, Motorola Inc and other US electronics makers account for about 12 per cent of Malaysia’s total exports, and more than a quarter of the country’s electronics shipments.

US Economy vs Stock Market

During the period of 1998-2008, the US economy grew by a staggering 65.5%! On the other hand, US stock market's performance looks pale in comparison with its economy. DowJones, the indicator of US stock market performance as a whole, contracted by 7.5% for the last ten years! Is it amazing?? The stock market index, which is also supposely track the performance of the economy of the country, did not match the underlying economy. The economy grew substantially but not the stock market!! Interest rate is below 1%. Borrowing is cheap! Money is cheap! Do you see what I foresee? Cheers!!!

Worst Recession in German Since 1996

German Economy Enters Worst Recession in 12 Years (Update2)
By Gabi Thesing

Nov. 13 (Bloomberg) -- The German economy, Europe's largest, contracted more than economists expected in the third quarter, confirming it has entered its worst recession in at least 12 years as the global financial crisis curbs exports.

Gross domestic product dropped a seasonally adjusted 0.5 percent from the second quarter, when it fell a revised 0.4 percent, the Federal Statistics Office in Wiesbaden said today.

Economists expected a 0.2 percent decline, the median of 40 forecasts in a Bloomberg News survey showed. The economy last contracted this much over two consecutive quarters -- the technical definition of a recession -- in 1996.

German companies are scaling back production as slower global growth erodes export demand. Siemens AG, Europe's largest engineering company, plans to cut 16,750 jobs by 2010 as profit declines. Germany's benchmark DAX Index has tumbled more than 40 percent this year, business confidence fell to a five-year low last month and manufacturing orders plunged in September.

``The German recession has begun in earnest and it's very serious,'' said Holger Schmieding, Chief European Economist at Bank of America Corp. in London. ``It raises the risk of a German contraction of more than 1 percent next year and we will have to revise down our forecast for the euro area as well.''

Eurostat, the European Union's statistics arm, will publish third-quarter growth data for the euro region tomorrow. The euro dropped more than a cent to $1.2388 after the German report.
Exports Hurt

In the year, the economy grew 0.8 percent when adjusted for the number of working days, the statistics office said. The third-quarter slowdown was led by trade as exports weakened and imports rose. Consumer and government spending improved ``slightly,'' the office said.

Last week, the International Monetary Fund predicted economic contractions in the U.S., Japan and euro area next year, with Germany's economy forecast to shrink 0.8 percent.

The European Commission said on Nov. 3 that the 15-nation euro region is probably already in a recession. Just over 40 percent of German exports go to other euro-area nations.

Households may spend less and save more as companies retrench. Continental AG, which makes auto parts, plans to jettison 5,000 temporary workers and extend holiday production breaks.

General Motors Corp.'s Adam Opel brand closed plants in Eisenach and Bochum for three and two weeks respectively to reduce production, forcing workers to take a vacation.

`Shock Waves'
``The shock waves pushed out by the financial crisis have hit Germany full on, if later'' than other countries, the government's five independent economic advisers said yesterday. They called on Chancellor Angela Merkel to expand a 50 billion- euro ($63 billion) fiscal stimulus package to help revive growth.

Siemens Chief Executive Officer Peter Loescher today said next year's profit goals have become ``more ambitious'' after the company reported a bigger decline in fourth-quarter earnings than analysts had expected.

Deutsche Lufthansa AG, Europe's second-biggest airline, said it filled fewer seats on its aircraft last month as the cooling economy deterred business and leisure travel.

Ralph Solveen, an economist at Commerzbank AG in Frankfurt, expects a ``marginal'' recovery in the second half of next year.

``The German economy would have cooled regardless of the financial crisis, which just gave it the final push into recession,'' he said. ``The factors that slowed German growth earlier this year such as high inflation, a strong euro and tight monetary policy are all disappearing, which should feed through to the economy next year.''

Upward Revisions
The statistics office revised first-quarter growth to 1.4 percent from 1.3 percent and raised its second-quarter estimate from a 0.5 percent decline. It will publish a detailed breakdown for the third quarter on Nov. 25.

The turmoil that began with the U.S. housing slump drove Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. into bankruptcy in September and caused the biggest global stock sell-off in 70 years. The world's largest financial companies have posted almost $1 trillion in writedowns since the start of last year, when the collapse of the U.S. subprime mortgage market triggered a credit shortage.

With growth slowing around the world, oil prices have collapsed to $56 a barrel yesterday from a peak of $147 in July, easing inflation pressure and giving central banks from Washington to Beijing room to slash interest rates. The euro has dropped 20 percent against the dollar in the past four months.

Investors expect the European Central Bank to lower its benchmark rate by at least half a percentage point at its next meeting on Dec. 4, Eonia forward contracts show. That would be the sharpest rate reduction in the bank's 10-year history after its two half-point cuts in the past month to 3.25 percent.

Germany still faces ``a long, drawn-out recession,'' said Stefan Bielmeier, an economist at Deutsche Bank AG in Frankfurt, who forecasts the economy will shrink 1.5 percent next year, the most since the aftermath of World War II. ``Unfortunately, we don't see any respite any time soon. Where should the growth come from?''

General Motors - The Next Bear Stearns?

GM's Skid Quickens as Crunch Raises Bankruptcy Threat (Update1)
By Mike Ramsey

Nov. 11 (Bloomberg) -- General Motors Corp., burning cash as U.S. sales slide, is being pushed closer to bankruptcy as it waits to learn whether the auto industry will win a new round of government loans.

Only federal aid can prevent a collapse by the largest U.S. automaker, analysts including Buckingham Research Group's Joseph Amaturo said yesterday as the shares plunged to a 59-year low. Reorganizing in court protection also may not be possible, because the credit crunch has dried up financing.

``Strategic bankruptcy is not an option for GM,'' said Mark Oline, a credit analyst with Fitch Inc. in Chicago. ``This is an issue of operating or not operating.''

The prospect of a forced liquidation raises the stakes for GM's quest for new federal borrowing after saying on Nov. 7 it may run out of operating cash as soon as year's end. GM had $16.2 billion on hand as of Sept. 30, down from $21 billion at the end of June, and needs $11 billion to pay its monthly bills.

``A bankruptcy wouldn't address our immediate liquidity concerns,'' said Renee Rashid-Merem, a spokeswoman for Detroit- based GM. ``It's not an option for GM because it creates more problems than it solves.''

GM's U.S. sales, which fell 21 percent last quarter and 45 percent in October, ``would be devastated'' by a bankruptcy filing, Chief Executive Officer Rick Wagoner said in a Nov. 7 Bloomberg Television interview. The ``unimaginable consequence'' of a bankruptcy ``motivates us to really come up with cash in every way possible,'' he said.

Obama-Bush Talks
Wagoner, 55, is cutting jobs and shutting plants after almost $73 billion in losses since the end of 2004. He told trade publication Automotive News that GM needs an aid package before President-elect Barack Obama takes office in January. Obama spoke with President George W. Bush about the urgency for aid to U.S. carmakers during discussions about the economy at a private White House meeting, aides to the president-elect said.

Investors may be concluding that GM won't succeed. The stock slid yesterday, chopping $600 million from GM's market value, to about $2.05 billion after Deutsche Bank AG said the shares may be worthless in a year.

GM fell $1 to $3.36, the lowest since 1949, in New York Stock Exchange composite trading yesterday. The stock traded in Germany was down a further 0.7 percent at $3.34 as of 10:14 a.m. in Frankfurt trading.

Carmakers' Aid Request
GM, Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC have asked for $50 billion in aid to weather the worst auto market in 17 years, people familiar with the discussions said. That would be in addition to $25 billion approved in September to help retool plants to build more fuel-efficient vehicles.

``There's growing support in Washington, in Congress, to give government assistance to GM and the other automakers,'' said Bruce Zirinsky, co-chairman of the financial restructuring department of Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP in New York. ``The question is going to be how that gets done and at what price to the shareholders and creditors.''

The White House signaled its opposition yesterday to a proposal by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada for Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson to tap the $700 billion bank-rescue package to aid automakers.

Democratic lawmakers reject Paulson's arguments that he lacks authority to do so, Senator Carl Levin of Michigan said yesterday in an interview.

Legislation's Wording
Should Paulson continue to resist using funds from the financial bailout approach, Congress would craft language to help the automakers and add it to the stimulus plan to be considered next week, Levin said. Treasury spokeswoman Brookly McLaughlin referred questions to the White House.

The failure of GM in an event where the company stops production would cost 2.5 million jobs in the U.S. in the first year, according to a study by the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

That scenario is surfacing because of the shortage of financing to let companies keep operating in court protection, meaning GM might be unable to borrow and stay in business should it be forced to file for bankruptcy.

So-called debtor-in-possession loans to bankrupt companies have ``all but shut down,'' CreditSights Inc. said yesterday in a report. The loans, which are paid off when companies exit court protection, aren't being made as lenders become more averse to risk, wrote Chris Taggert, a New York-based analyst.

``In this world, you don't go Chapter 11 reorganization,'' Maryann Keller, an independent auto analyst and consultant based in Greenwich, Connecticut, said in an interview. ``You go Chapter 7 liquidation.''

Will GM goes bankrupt? In my opinion, it is highly unlikely. If GM fails, 2.5 million employees will be out of work! This will add up about 1.5% to October unemployment rate of 6.5% = 8%. With the layoffs, consumer spending would be hardly hit and US will definitely goes into a deep and long recession. Oil price will go down, and corporate profits will decline significantly. A lot of bad news will come out soon. Be patient. What say you?

Oil prices near bottom?

Oil prices near US$60 on recession fears
Source: msnbc

HOUSTON: Oil prices neared $60 a barrel Thursday, their lowest point in about a year and a half, as a growing number of economic reports point to a long and painful recession.

The number of Americans continuing to draw unemployment benefits surged to a 25-year high, the Labor Department said Thursday, and the U.S. retailers saw their sales plummet last month to the weakest October level since at least 1969.

When the economy slows, the demand for energy fades.

One side effect: the price of gasoline has tumbled from summer highs, when a gallon cost more than $4.

Experts say gasoline could cost half that by year's end.

Light, sweet crude for December delivery fell 7 percent, or $4.53, to settle at $60.77 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Prices tumbled as low as $60.16 at one point, a level last seen in March 2007. In London, December Brent crude fell $4.44 to settle at $57.43 on the ICE Futures exchange.

Oil prices have now fallen nearly 60 percent since peaking at $147.27 a barrel in mid-July.

They surged above $70 Tuesday, but a crude sell-off began the following day when prices dipped 7.4 percent.

Analyst and trader Stephen Schork said the sharp decline is fallout from a yearlong bubble.
Some investors and lawmakers in Washington have blamed speculative traders for bidding up the price of oil.

"It's the old adage: markets fall faster than they rise. And this is exactly what we're seeing right now,'' Schork said.

"We knew it was a bubble on the way up. People stopped acting rationally. High prices became the justification for high prices. Fundamentals be damned.''

Also pressuring crude prices Thursday were interest rate cuts across Europe, where economic leaders were trying to spark growth.

Oil analyst Peter Beutel of Cameron Hanover said crude was falling because of a stronger dollar, renewed fears of recession and weaker equities markets.

"Oil prices ... have been searching for a bottom for the last several days,'' a Cameron Hanover report said.

And despite a government report showing storage levels in the U.S. rose less than expected last week, prices for natural gas fell, too.

Meteorologist predictions of a cold winter have been pushing up natural gas prices recently.
In its weekly report, the Energy Department's Energy Information Administration said natural-gas inventories held in underground storage in the lower 48 states rose by 12 billion cubic feet to about 3.41 trillion cubic feet for the week ending Oct. 31.

Analysts had expected a boost of between 20 billion to 25 billion cubic feet, according to a survey by Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos.

"The (EIA) report was kind of bullish actually and the market went the other way,'' said Phil Flynn, an analyst at Alaron Trading Corp.

"It's just the overall malaise. Earnings today haven't been anything to write home about. We're readjusting commodities based on recessionary-like numbers.''

Wall Street slumped again Thursday, sending stocks lower for a second day after Cisco Systems Inc. reported crumbling demand.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell about 443 points, or 4.9 percent.

The dollar strengthened after the European Central Bank cut its key rate by half a percentage point to 3.25 percent Thursday, joining the Bank of England, Swiss and Czech central banks as they confront a looming recession.

The ECB announced the cut from 3.75 percent shortly after the Bank of England lowered its key interest rate by a startling 1.5 percentage points to 3 percent.
The Bank of England's cut was more than the full percentage point that most analysts had predicted and the biggest cut in 27 years.

Commodities such as oil are used as a hedge against inflation and a weak dollar.

When a central bank cuts interest rates, it tends to weaken that nation's currency, meaning the dollar typically trades higher against it.

When the dollar strengthens, it makes oil more expensive to buyers dealing in other currencies. But the continuing parade of dim economic reports weighed on global markets and on the price of oil as well.

Retailers' October sales figures showed consumers pulling back spending sharply.

A Labor Department report said the number of people continuing to draw unemployment benefits jumped by 122,000 to 3.84 million in late October.

It was the highest level since late February 1983, when the country was struggling to recover from a long and painful recession.

Other economic indicators out of the U.S. this week suggest the world's largest economy may be heading for its worst recession in decades.

A Commerce Department report Tuesday said factory orders fell 2.5 percent in September from August, much worse than analysts had predicted.

On Monday, U.S. manufacturers reported poor figures for October, showing the worst reading in more than a quarter century.

In other Nymex trading, gasoline futures fell 8.8 cents to settle at $1.336 a gallon.
Heating oil dropped 11 cents to settle at $1.942 a gallon while natural gas for December delivery fell 27 cents to setttle at $6.979 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Warren Buffett Says It's Time To Buy!

This is the text of an opinion piece written by Warren Buffett and published in the New York Times on Friday, October 17, 2008:

Buy American. I am.

By Warren E. Buffett

The financial world is a mess, both in the United States and abroad. Its problems, moreover, have been leaking into the general economy, and the leaks are now turning into a gusher. In the near term, unemployment will rise, business activity will falter and headlines will continue to be scary.

So ... I’ve been buying American stocks. This is my personal account I’m talking about, in which I previously owned nothing but United States government bonds. (This description leaves aside my Berkshire Hathaway holdings, which are all committed to philanthropy.) If prices keep looking attractive, my non-Berkshire net worth will soon be 100 percent in United States equities.

Why?

A simple rule dictates my buying: Be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful. And most certainly, fear is now widespread, gripping even seasoned investors. To be sure, investors are right to be wary of highly leveraged entities or businesses in weak competitive positions. But fears regarding the long-term prosperity of the nation’s many sound companies make no sense. These businesses will indeed suffer earnings hiccups, as they always have. But most major companies will be setting new profit records 5, 10 and 20 years from now.

Let me be clear on one point: I can’t predict the short-term movements of the stock market. I haven’t the faintest idea as to whether stocks will be higher or lower a month — or a year — from now. What is likely, however, is that the market will move higher, perhaps substantially so, well before either sentiment or the economy turns up. So if you wait for the robins, spring will be over.

A little history here: During the Depression, the Dow hit its low, 41, on July 8, 1932. Economic conditions, though, kept deteriorating until Franklin D. Roosevelt took office in March 1933. By that time, the market had already advanced 30 percent. Or think back to the early days of World War II, when things were going badly for the United States in Europe and the Pacific. The market hit bottom in April 1942, well before Allied fortunes turned. Again, in the early 1980s, the time to buy stocks was when inflation raged and the economy was in the tank. In short, bad news is an investor’s best friend. It lets you buy a slice of America’s future at a marked-down price.

Over the long term, the stock market news will be good. In the 20th century, the United States endured two world wars and other traumatic and expensive military conflicts; the Depression; a dozen or so recessions and financial panics; oil shocks; a flu epidemic; and the resignation of a disgraced president. Yet the Dow rose from 66 to 11,497.

You might think it would have been impossible for an investor to lose money during a century marked by such an extraordinary gain. But some investors did. The hapless ones bought stocks only when they felt comfort in doing so and then proceeded to sell when the headlines made them queasy.

Today people who hold cash equivalents feel comfortable. They shouldn’t. They have opted for a terrible long-term asset, one that pays virtually nothing and is certain to depreciate in value. Indeed, the policies that government will follow in its efforts to alleviate the current crisis will probably prove inflationary and therefore accelerate declines in the real value of cash accounts.

Equities will almost certainly outperform cash over the next decade, probably by a substantial degree. Those investors who cling now to cash are betting they can efficiently time their move away from it later. In waiting for the comfort of good news, they are ignoring Wayne Gretzky’s advice: “I skate to where the puck is going to be, not to where it has been.”

I don’t like to opine on the stock market, and again I emphasize that I have no idea what the market will do in the short term. Nevertheless, I’ll follow the lead of a restaurant that opened in an empty bank building and then advertised: “Put your mouth where your money was.” Today my money and my mouth both say equities.

Warren E. Buffett is the chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway, a diversified holding company.

Dow Entry Level at 6,000?

Robert Shiller, professor of finance at Yale University and chief economist for MacroMarkets LLC, tracks what he calls the "Graham P/E," a measure of market valuation he adapted from an observation Graham made many years ago. The Graham P/E divides the price of major U.S. stocks by their net earnings averaged over the past 10 years, adjusted for inflation. After this week's bloodbath, the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index is priced at 15 times earnings by the Graham-Shiller measure. That is a 25% decline since Sept. 30 alone.

The Graham P/E has not been this low since January 1989; the long-term average in Prof. Shiller's database, which goes back to 1881, is 16.3 times earnings.

But when the stock market moves away from historical norms, it tends to overshoot. The modern low on the Graham P/E was 6.6 in July and August of 1982, and it has sunk below 10 for several long stretches since World War II -- most recently, from 1977 through 1984.


It would take a bottom of about 600 on the S&P 500 to take the current Graham P/E down to 10. That's roughly a 30% drop from last week's levels; an equivalent drop would take the Dow below 6000.


Source: http://gregmankiw.blogspot.com/

Is it safe to enter the stock market when Dow comes down to 6,000?? Or 8,000?? Risk comes from not knowing what you are doing. If you dont know what you are doing, why rush to buy now when the market is still in turmoil? Ask yourself, "Is it worthy to risk losing money when you think the bottom is still far away"? Why go against the tide? Capital preservation is the key now. The market will always be there. It wont go away. Be patient and think rationally!! Do your homework before you buy. Always be prepared. Like Charlie Munger said, "Opportunity comes to the prepared mind".

A Picture Paints A Thousand Words

Market is still unattractive at current level of around 935 points for KLCI. Is it time to accumulate?? I dont think so. Better be approximate right than precisely wrong! Keep in mind that KLCI represents only 100 top stocks by market cap. But when the market falls, the second and third liners would be the most affected. Wait for the right time to enter again. What say you? The market is always there and it is there only to SERVE you, not to INSTRUCT you! Its time for holidays. Cheers!!!

One Up On Wall Street

Source: thesimpledollar.com

Peter Lynch is a Wall Street legend. He drove Fidelity’s Magellan mutual fund to some incredible returns in the 1970s and 1980s, year after year. From 1977, when he took over the fund, to 1990, when he retired, that fund grew from $18 million in assets to $14 billion. In those thirteen years, a single share of the Magellan fund increased 900% in value - a 29.2% annual return - and outperformed the stock market by 13.4% annually. That’s an incredible run, without much question the best run of more than ten years ever by a mutual fund manager.

Looking Into One Up On Wall Street
The book opens with an impassioned argument from Lynch on behalf of seeking out “tenbaggers,” which refers to stocks that increase in value ten times from their initial investment - buy a stock at 10, when it goes to 100 you have a tenbagger. Lynch makes the astute point that if you buy six stocks, five of them go to zero, and one is a tenbagger, your rate of return is still 66% - an utter killing. Clearly, Lynch’s argument for individual stock investing is that you can occasionally hit a grand slam and make up big time for a few strikeouts.

Preparing to Invest
Most of this section focuses on one key point: ignore the analysts and “experts.” Instead of tuning into CNBC for the “hot” picks, do your own research and find the stocks that you understand and believe in. Also, don’t try to time the market or predict the economy. Very few people can do that well - if Ben Bernanke can’t do it all the time, how can you? The economy is incredibly complex - don’t get egotistical and believe that you know how it works.

Instead, focus on what you know (circle of competence). Look at companies and industries that you’re familiar with. Listen to what people you know are talking about and follow that to your investments. I know personally that I strongly encouraged one investor to buy Google at the IPO because I knew the search engine business pretty well. A friend of mine swore up and down that Starbucks was going to be huge circa 1992. Just listen to what people say, do your own investigating, and follow up on what you find.

Most important of all, Lynch offers three questions that you need to seriously answer before you start investing in individual stocks.

1. Do I own a house? If you don’t, buy a house first. It provides you a stable and permanent place to hang your hat. Some might argue with this advice, but the permanence and investment qualities of a home, the advice does make a lot of sense. That doesn’t mean fully owning a house, but just to be in one and have a stable non-adjustable mortgage that is building equity.

2. Do I need the money? Don’t invest with money that will leave you feeling sick if you lose it. Use extra money, money that won’t devastate you with each loss. You need to be able to stomach big losses with the money without breaking a sweat if you’re going to swing for the fences.

3. Do I have the personal qualities it takes to succeed? Lynch lists patience, self-reliance, common sense, a tolerance for pain, open-mindedness, detachment, persistence, humility, flexibility, a willingness to do independent research, an equal willingness to admit mistakes, and the ability to ignore general panic. Notice that among these traits, a high level of intelligence is not found - you don’t have to be a genius to succeed at investing.

To read more: http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/02/08/review-one-up-on-wall-street/

Great Depression II ?

Japan's Nikkei plunges 9.4%, biggest drop in 21 years
TOKYO: Japan's stock market plummeted 9.4 percent, Its biggest one-day drop in 21 years, on Wednesday as investors rushed for the exits on deepening fears over the global financial crisis.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index nose-dived 952.58 points to 9,203.32, a five-year low. That was its third-biggest drop in percentage terms and largest plunge since October 1987.

The massive sell-off in Tokyo follows a plunge on Wall Street Tuesday, when the Dow Jones industrial average lost more than 5 percent despite steps by the Federal Reserve to reinvigorate dormant credit markets.

http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/10/8/business/20081008160936&sec=business

Jakarta suspends share trading after 10% fall
KUALA LUMPUR: Indonesia’s Stock Exchange has suspended trading in its equities and derivatives at midday on Wednesday after the Jakarta Composite Index fell 10%.

In a statement posted on its website on Wednesday that the suspension of trading in all markets was “due to significant decrease of the JCI to a level of 1,451.669 at 11.06am”.

“The trading is suspended until further announcement,” it said.

According to the data, the Jakarta Composite Index fell 168.05 points to 1,451.66, prompting the stock exchange to suspend trading.

Bloomberg said this was the first time in eight years that trading was suspended. Trading was last halted in September 2000 when a car bomb damaged the exchange building and killed 15 people.

Source: The Star Online

On the brink of bankruptcy
Iceland could be the first country to declare bankruptcy due to the financial meltdown.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081007/ap_on_re_eu/eu_iceland_meltdown_1

EQUITY INDEXES

VALUE CHANGE % CHANGE
Topix 899.01 -78.60 -8.04
Hang Seng 15,431.73 -1,372.03 -8.17
Singapore Straits Times 2,033.61 -143.94 -6.61
S&P/ASX 4,388.10 -230.60 -4.99
Source: Bloomberg

No Malaysia KLCI data in Bloomberg, nvm, i add it for future reference:
KLCI 970.19
Change -27.04
% Chg - 2.71% (the % change have to calculate myself (SIGH) since The Star and Bursa website just provide the absolute change. Dont you guys think the % change is more important and USEFUL??). So if anyone working there read this, pls ask them to include the % change here: http://biz.thestar.com.my/
http://www.bursamalaysia.com/website/bm/
For a good example, see OSK188.com


Too many bad news in the market now!! But Warren Buffett is on shopping spree. Be greedy when others are fearful?? How long will the selldowns last? Let's wait and see (at the same time, read The Snowball).