Posted by Jeflin on March 2, 2009
A new month, but it did not bring new hopes. This week’s stock market opening wasn’t any different as it continues to test new low. Asian bourses were jolted by bleak data while Wall Street fell to fresh 12-year lows on heightened fears about the murky financial sector.
AIG announced $62 billion losses (a cool $460,000 per minute) and a third bailout package was injected which brought the insurance giant closer to becoming absolutely owned by the US government.
Read the full article here.
Posted in Business, Economy, Stocks | Tagged: Business, Economy, investment, investors, Warren Buffett | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Jeflin on January 10, 2009
On Thursday, South Korea announced the arrest of a financial blogger accused of undermining the country’s financial markets with his doom-mongering. “Minerva,” as the blogger is known, gained instant fame for uncannily accurate forecasts on the fall of Lehman Brothers and the crash of the Korean won, which plunged 26 per cent against the dollar last year.
Instead of focusing on getting the economy on track, Korea has chosen to crack down on freedom of speech and civil rights. And we will have thought China will be the first to start rounding up bloggers, not just due to its deplorable human rights record, but because its economy is facing the sternest test in decades.
Read the full article here.
Posted in Business, Economy | Tagged: Business, Economy, financial blogger, South Korea, unemployment | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Jeflin on January 1, 2009
I wish all readers of Jeflin’s Investment Blog a Happy New Year in 2009.
The past year has been sobering for taxpayers, retail investors and fund managers, what with severe declines in housing, mortgages, banking, stock markets, commodities, retail, automotive, shipping industry, etc. The extreme volatility in 2008 may be over but more of the same challenges await us.
Personally, I have made a new year’s resolution to be a more careful reader of financial reports, and by that, I mean reading with an inquisitive mind. Of course, if a management wants to get creative with their financial statements and the auditors are in a collusive mood (remember, the person who pays the piper calls the tune), our money is fair game for the predators.
Read the full article here.
Posted in Banking, Business, Economy, Properties, Stocks, bonds, deflation | Tagged: banks, Business, deflation, Economy, gold, Oil, Stocks | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Jeflin on December 7, 2008
Over $7 trillion dollars have been made available by the US government to rescue the financial sector and the economy. That’s about $23,000 for every American, and more than half of US GDP. However, not much has been allocated to the beleaguered auto industry and Detroit’s Big Three yearns for a larger piece of the pie to save their hides.
Read the full article here.
Posted in Business, Economy, Stocks | Tagged: auto industry, bailout, bankruptcy, Business, Chrylser, Detriot Big Three, Ford Motors, General Motors, job loss, recession | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Jeflin on November 28, 2008
Every day we open up the newspapers, we are hit by depressing news – what with retrenchments (DBS axes 900, NOL ships out 1000, Citigroup eliminates 52000 worldwide, etc) and pay cuts (Temasek staff and Cabinet ministers). Taken together, the “contributions” from DBS and NOL are close to surpassing the retrenchment figures for third quarter.
Read the full article here.
Posted in Business, Economy, Stocks | Tagged: Business, Economy, investment, investors, jobs, recession, retrenchment, risk profile, stock market, Stocks | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Jeflin on November 14, 2008
Retail sales may be in the gutter, but that doesn’t mean consumers have lost their appetite for a bargain. Example A: Today’s kerfuffle over what looks like a leaked Sam’s Club ad for the Nintendo Wii.
Gadget blog CrunchGear posted Wednesday that the warehouse chain, part of Wal-Mart, will sell the popular videogaming console, along with extra Wiimote and Nunchuk controllers, and games King of Clubs Mini-Golf and Mario Super Sluggers, for $224 the day after Thanksgiving.
Read the full article here.
Posted in Business | Tagged: Black Friday, Business, promos, sales, Thanksgiving | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Jeflin on November 13, 2008
Recession, recession, everywhere we turn, we are reminded of this dreaded scenario. For those who are still shy to utter the word “recession,” let’s not kid ourselves anymore. The earlier we face up to the truth, the faster we are on the road to economic recovery.
The week actually didn’t start off with a pall. On Monday, the bulls came charging back in Asian and European stock markets. Read the full article here.
Posted in Alternative Energy, Business, Economy, Oil, Stocks, deflation | Tagged: alternative energies, bulls, Business, deflation, Economy, investors, Keynes, Oil, recession, stock market, Stocks | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Jeflin on November 6, 2008
Change has indeed come to America and I am glad that Obama, a bright, eager, charismatic and progressive African-American has ascended to the White House on a record wave of voters’ turnout. After the dizzying celebrations of a defining moment where a gigantic racial barrier was overcome, it is time to get back to reality though.
Read the full article here.
Posted in Business, Economy, Stocks | Tagged: America, Barack Obama, Business, change, Economy, President-elect, Stocks | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Jeflin on November 1, 2008
Red October, one of the worst month in Wall Street history, ended on a sweet note on Friday as stocks rallied to cap a week of impressive gains. For the week, the Dow Jones was up 10.1%, S&P 500 was up 9.5% and the Nasdaq had gained 9.8%.
There are storm clouds gathering but at the moment, investors are caught up in the euphoria and unmoved by grim economic indicators. Read the full article here.
Posted in Banking, Business, Economy, Inflation, Stocks | Tagged: banks, Business, Economy, Inflation, investment, investors, stock market, Stocks | 1 Comment »
Posted by Jeflin on October 24, 2008
Stock markets are now entering a period of painful decline as countries around the world face up to the prospect of recession. While interbank lending has eased tentatively as central banks’ measures to inject cash loans to banks unblocked the credit crunch, investors have little time to absorb the good news.
Read the full article here.
Posted in Banking, Business, Currency, Economy, Stocks | Tagged: banks, Business, Currency, Economy, investment, investors, recession, stock market, Stocks | Leave a Comment »
