(ARTICLE) Tips For Young Investors

Many young working executives out there are the people who are very much keen of starting a portfolio. Once get their security account, the first instance when they are able to access to their account they wanted to buy something. Correct me if I am wrong, but that is the fact.

Well, for people who are more patient minded and would take the effort to learn will benefit more than those who rushed into frantic buying and chasing after unrealistic stock price tags. Be it as it may as many reports that revealed technical indications, people will still try their luck to chase after prices. "This time is different", they would probably say. Familiar? Of course it is.

Here are some tips for the impulsive lot who wants to know more about the market.

1. Before buying an equity or a security counter, read their annual report and make sure it is a money making firm.

2. Check the 52 week high because chances are if you buy now, you are actually going to be the one that bought over the stock at it's highest.

Read on for more...

(EXTRACT) CNN

Stocks get pre-Fed jitters
Major gauges struggle for direction as investors gear up for central bank meeting Tuesday, worry that weak retail sales mean housing, mortgage problems are spreading.
By Alexandra Twin, CNNMoney.com senior writer
September 14 2007: 2:25 PM EDT

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Stocks seesawed in choppy trading Friday afternoon as investors mulled downgrades of American Express and Intel and a weak retail sales report ahead of next week's highly-anticipated Federal Reserve meeting.

The Dow Jones industrial average (up 5.85 to 13,430.73, Charts) added a few points with less than two hours left in the session. The broader S&P 500 (down 0.72 to 1,483.23, Charts) index and the tech-fueled Nasdaq composite (down 1.63 to 2,599.43, Charts) were both little changed
Stocks slipped in the early going but the selling pressure let up as the session wore on, with the focus turning to next Tuesday's pivotal Federal Reserve policy meeting. Trading volume was pretty light due to Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year.

"Everyone's waiting for the Fed," said Harry Clark, founder and CEO of Clark Capital Management Group.

The unkindest cut
Retail sales rose just 0.3 percent in August, from an upwardly revised 0.5 percent in July. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com thought sales would rise 0.5 percent.

Excluding autos, retail sales fell 0.4 percent in August after rising an upwardly revised 0.7 percent in July. Economists thought sales excluding autos would rise 0.2 percent in August, on average.

The report seemed to speak to fears that ongoing problems in the credit and mortgage markets are spreading to consumer spending, which fuels roughly two-thirds of economic growth.

A separate report showed a weaker-than-expected rise in industrial production.

However, the retail sales news was countered by other more positive items, including a report that showed consumer sentiment rebounded a little in September after a drop in August.

The University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index rose to 83.8 in September from 83.4 in August. Economists thought it would rise to 83.5.

In addition, Wall Streeters could be figuring that the weak retail sales report makes it more likely that the Federal Reserve will cut a key short-term interest rate by a half-percentage point when it meets next week.

Fed can't stop recession
The fed funds rate has stood at 5.25 percent since June 2006, with the central bank seeking to balance inflationary pressure with the risks of an economic slowdown sparked by the housing market collapse.

The recent rise in mortgage defaults and the tightening of credit have raised bets on Wall Street that the central bank will have to cut interest rates. The Fed has already cut the discount rate, which affects bank loans, and has added billions to the banking system.

Wall Streeters are now looking for the Fed to cut the fed funds rate, which impacts consumer loans, with the current debate about the extent of the cut.

Should Ben Bernanke and the central bankers opt to cut rates by 25 basis points, stock investors would likely be disappointed, Clark said, since such a cut is already expected. There are 100 basis points in one percentage point.

Should the bankers not cut rates at all, stocks would likely tumble, he said, as it would send the message that the bank is behind the curve.

Clark said a half-percentage point would be best, alongside an additional half-percentage point cut for the discount rate and a reassuring statement.

"I think they have to cut 50," Clark said. "25 would seem wishy-washy, but 50 says they are serious, they are taking care of it."

(For more on the debate, click here.)

Wall Street titans face the music
In other news, the Bank of England had to approve emergency funding for lender Northern Rock, reminding investors of the threat of a global liquidity crunch.

A hedge fund run by Goldman Sachs (up $2.19 to $190.66, Charts, Fortune 500) suffered a big loss in August, according to a published report. Several other Goldman funds have suffered big declines this summer due to the financial market woes.

Merrill Lynch (down $0.14 to $75.00, Charts, Fortune 500) said that its debt investments will hit its third-quarter results.

Among other stock movers, Dow components American Express (down $1.41 to $59.19, Charts, Fortune 500) and Intel (down $0.35 to $25.00, Charts, Fortune 500) both slipped on Merrill Lynch downgrades.

Oracle (down $0.33 to $20.12, Charts, Fortune 500) and Dell (down $0.54 to $26.35, Charts, Fortune 500) were among the large technology stocks falling.

ImClone (down $3.76 to $39.72, Charts) stock slumped 8 percent on an analyst downgrade.

Market breadth was mixed. On the New York Stock Exchange, winners beat losers by a narrow margin on volume of 740 million shares. On the Nasdaq, decliners topped advancers by a narrow margin on volume of 1.04 billion shares.

Why the credit crunch may deepen
Treasury prices slipped, lifting the yield on the 10-year note at 4.47 percent, up from 4.46 percent late Thursday. Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions.

U.S. light crude oil for October delivery fell 22 cents to $79.87 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after ending the previous session at a record closing high.

However, the record price is still below inflation-adjusted highs hit in the early 1980s, which would be equal to at least $95 a barrel today. Oil prices have advanced about 30 percent in 2007.

In currency trading, the dollar inched higher against the euro after falling to a record low on Thursday. The greenback was weaker against the yen.

(EXTRACT) STRAITS TIMES [ODEX SAGA UPDATE]

Odex stands firm on pursuing illegal downloaders of anime
By Jermyn Chow darkgrey

Odex revealed that over 483,000 illegal downloads had been made here over the past 10 months alone - making Singapore 10th on the list of countries worldwide with the most illegal anime downloaders. -- PHOTO: THE NEW PAPER
ANIME distributor Odex is standing firm on its stance to pursue illegal downloaders.

Clarifying its position in a media conference on Thursday, the company even brought in the muscle of anime copyright holders from Japan to back its case.

Odex said it had to take legal action because of the large numbers of illegal downloaders of the Japanese anime titles it brought in.

The company revealed that over 483,000 illegal downloads had been made here over the past 10 months alone - making Singapore 10th on the list of countries worldwide with the most illegal anime downloaders.

Compounding the problem - 59 per cent of households here have high-speed broadband access.

So Singapore has the highest percentage of anime downloads per capita, far ahead of countries like the United States, Australia and Hong Kong.

Odex's aim, said its managing director Peter Go, is to bring down the number of illegal downloads to about 85 per cent.

Odex authorised to act on behalf of copyright holders

To further bolster its case, Odex brought in representatives of four Japanese studios, which own the copyrights of blockbuster series like Naruto, Dragonball, Tsubasa Chronicles, and Romeo and Juliet.

The representatives told reporters through an interpreter, that they support Odex's legal action.

All four studios had in fact issued authorisation letters for Odex to act on their behalf, before the company went to the courts.

Said Mr Yukio Kawasaki, manager of TV Tokyo Corpration: 'If there is a necessity from the courts of Singapore requiring us to come down (physically), then we will come.'

The studios appealed to anime fans to stick to original copies.

Appealing court orders

Odex is currently in the midst of appealing to get a court order which will force Pacific Internet to supply the names of illegal downloaders using its service. A judge had turned down its request last Thursday (Aug 23).

To date, Odex has sent out 300 letters, from the 1,000 Internet Protocol (IP) addresses that SingTel had provided. An IP address is a string of numbers that can identify a user, although web addresses are commonly shared here.

StarHub has also been served with a court order to provide Odex with another 100 ISP addresses.

The Odex fracas has led to fervent online chatter with some anime fans vilifying Odex and others voicing outrage over the court orders forcing Internet Service Providers to reveal the names of their subscribers.

(EXTRACT) REUTER

NEW YORK/LONDON (Reuters) -

The Federal Reserve on Friday reassured investors it would take any steps needed to shelter the U.S. economy from a global credit squeeze, while President George W. Bush promised to help struggling homeowners refinance their mortgages.

Chairman Ben Bernanke also said the central bank would not bail out investors who had made mistakes, but overall his comments reinforced the view that the Fed will cut interest rates by a quarter percentage point at its meeting on September 18.

Bush urged lenders to work with homeowners to renegotiate their mortgages to prevent default and called on Congress to approve legislation that would provide mortgage insurance to borrowers through a network of private-sector lenders.

"It's very light on detail and limited in scope," Jeff Schappe, chief investment officer at BB&T Asset Management in Raleigh, North Carolina, said of Bush's proposal. "The important news today is that Bernanke is saying the Fed is going to do whatever it will take to limit the impact."

Rising default rates on home loans to less credit-worthy

U.S. borrowers, coupled with falling house prices, have

caused losses for banks and funds holding mortgage-linked securities in recent months and fostered the worst global credit and liquidity squeeze in a decade.

The Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank, the Bank of Japan and other central banks have injected extra liquidity in recent weeks to try to stop the credit squeeze impacting global economic growth.

Investors have been pinning their hopes on an interest rate cut by the Fed at its next policy meeting on September 18 to shore up U.S. economic growth and alleviate the credit squeeze.

MARKETS STABILIZE

All three major U.S. stock indexes rose more than 1.0 percent on Friday, supported by the Bush and Bernanke statements, which also helped boost European stocks earlier in the day.

Bernanke said the Fed would "act as needed to limit the adverse effects on the broader economy that may arise from the disruptions in financial markets."

But analysts believe the Fed is in no rush to act as it wants to disabuse investors of the idea that it is there to bail out their poor decisions.

The benchmark U.S. 10-year U.S. Treasury note lost 5/32 in price for a yield of 4.53 percent, versus 4.51 percent late on Thursday, as the need for a safe-haven investment dissipated.

International Monetary Fund First Deputy Managing Director John Lipsky said on Friday that market turmoil would dent but not derail world growth, though it was too soon to declare the troubles over.

"Central bank action so far has been appropriate but market turbulence has not fully receded," Lipsky told Reuters on the sidelines of a gathering of central bankers and economists in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

There were plenty of signs the crisis was far from over.

Rates for three-month sterling hit their highest in 8-1/2 years, while Australia's central bank struggled to ease upward pressure on some market interest rates as renewed trouble in the global commercial paper market made institutions reluctant to lend.

Deutsche Bank has shut down its proprietary credit trading desk and is laying off some of the team, a source familiar with the matter said. Earlier this month a source close to the bank said Deutsche was set to ditch its credit relative-value trading strategy, used by the London desk, after losses of about $135 million. Deutsche Bank declined to comment and has said nothing so far about any losses stemming from credit market tremors.BritIsh bank Barclays Plc, meanwhile, turned to the Bank of England as the lender of last resort for the second time this month after a technical breakdown in the British clearing system, a source close to the matter said. Barclays declined to confirm it had used the borrowing facility but said in a statement it was "flush with liquidity.

(EXTRACT) REUTER [Will There Be Calm]

No calm ahead for Wall Street
Another rocky week is expected for stocks as investors look for indications that the Fed will lower interest rates.

August 26 2007: 12:41 PM EDT


NEW YORK (Reuters) -- Wall Street is heading for another volatile week, but the bulls could get a further reprieve if calm brought on by the Federal Reserve's liquidity injections and a surprise cut in its discount rate lasts.

The coming week has a slew of economic indicators, including July existing home sales and preliminary figures on second-quarter gross domestic product, which should shed more light on the economy's health.

But paramount to Wall Street will be what the data says about the prospects for a cut in the fed funds rate as the housing slump fuels worries that the sector's slowdown could tip the world's largest economy into a recession.

"Wall Street is banking on a mid-cycle slowdown that was expected but could get worse, suggesting that the Fed may want to lower the fed funds rate," said Rob Goodman, director of investments for Fairport Asset Management, in Cleveland. "A cut," he said, "is not out of the realm of possibilities ... and I don't expect Wall Street to be too negative going forward."

Fed rate cut? Don't bank on it
But even with the burgeoning calm, money managers and analysts say a sense that there could yet be more upheaval due to weakness in the housing industry still pervades the market and could make for cautious trading ahead of the Labor Day holiday on Monday, Sept. 3. Volume is likely to be lighter than normal with many of Wall Street's denizens on vacation or cutting the week short for the last long weekend of summer.

Lots of economic numbers and exceptionally light volume often is a recipe for volatility. The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, also known as Wall Street's fear gauge, ended Friday at 20.72, down 8.4 percent. The VIX is down almost 45 percent from Aug. 16, when it climbed to 37.50, a five-year high.

Dow up 7 percent for the year
More worrisome, analysts and money managers said would be any news that pointed to further turmoil in the subprime mortgage sector. Last week, several mortgage providers, including Accredited Home Lenders Holding Co, said they were cutting hundreds of jobs as the lending squeeze and lingering jitters in the credit markets take their toll.

Still, the clamor for a cut in the fed funds rate is providing a cushion for stocks as shown by Friday's stock market advance. Surprisingly strong data on July new home sales and durable goods orders contributed to the market's calmer tone.

Friday's gains sent the Dow Jones industrial average up 2.3 percent for the week, its best weekly advance since April 22. Both the Nasdaq Composite Index and the S&P 500 notched their biggest weekly gains in five months, with the Nasdaq rising 2.9 percent and the S&P gaining 2.3 percent.

For the year, the Dow is up 7.35 percent, while the S&P 500 is up 4.31 percent and the Nasdaq is up 6.68 percent. Before the latest turmoil, data showing the economy's pace of growth was stronger than expected would have rattled investors, quashing the oft-repeated view of a "Goldilocks" scenario - an economy that's neither too hot nor too cold.

Fed bends rules for two big banks
But with investors still uncertain about the extent of the impact of the faltering housing market and losses from subprime mortgages, Wall Street is set to latch on to any news showing that the economy is weathering the real estate downturn, albeit with bumps along the way.

"If the consumer can come out of subprime OK, then the market will come out of subprime OK," said Jim Fehrenbach, head of Nasdaq trading at Piper Jaffray, in Minneapolis.

He said the jobs report, due before the Fed's policy-setters meet on Sept. 18 to decide on interest rates, is among the pieces of data that may seal the market's fate in the days ahead, along with reports on housing. "If those numbers turn south, that's going to really increase recession fears," Fehrenbach said.

But the August jobs report is still a ways off. The nonfarm payrolls report for August will be released on Sept. 7.

Housing, Fed Minutes and GDP
Looking at this week, however, the economic calendar promises plenty of numbers to crunch and there could be some surprises. Among the week's highlights will be data on existing home sales on Monday; the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index Tuesday, along with the Conference Board's August consumer confidence index and weekly store sales.

The minutes from the Fed's most recent policy meeting on Aug. 7, at which the Fed left its benchmark fed funds rate unchanged at 5.25 percent, are also due Tuesday. The Federal Open Market Committee's August minutes could be particularly illuminating on the central bank's thinking before its surprise cut in the discount rate on Aug. 17 and its statement afterward saying "tighter credit conditions and increased uncertainty have the potential to restrain economic growth going forward."

Weekly data on mortgage applications will be released on Wednesday, while the government's preliminary report on second-quarter GDP is due out on Thursday, along with weekly data on initial jobless claims. This will be the second look at gross domestic product, which measures the output of all goods and services within U.S. borders, for the second quarter. The advance estimates of GDP were released on July 27.

Hedge-fund redemption shock
Friday's data features a reading on July personal income and spending, a report that includes one of the Fed's favored consumer price inflation gauges, the core PCE price index. (PCE refers to "personal consumption expenditures." The core PCE price index excludes volatile food and energy prices.)

Also on tap for Friday is the release of the August reading of business activity in the U.S. Midwest from the National Association of Purchasing Management-Chicago and data on U.S. factory orders for July.

The corporate earnings agenda is thin, with tax preparer H&R Block (Charts, Fortune 500) and computer maker Dell (Charts, Fortune 500) set to release quarterly results on Thursday.

(EXTRACT) CNA [ODEX Had "No right of civil action"]

SINGAPORE : Anime distributor Odex had "no right of civil action" against illegal downloaders.

This is because it was just a sub-licensee and not the copyright owner or exclusive licensee for most of the anime titles sold here.

This is the rationale behind the court's surprise dismissal of Odex's bid to get Pacific Internet (PacNet) to disclose its customers' identities.

The judge's 13-page grounds of decision was released on August 24.

District Judge Earnest Lau also noted that Odex was also in no position to initiate criminal prosecution.

On August 23, the judge ordered the company to pay legal costs of more than $7,000.

The judge also expressed unease over the hasty manner in which Odex tried to go after some 1,000 PacNet subscribers.

In particular, he was not convinced of the investigation method it used to uncover the IP addresses and pinpoint the alleged wrongdoers.

Industry observers had expected the court to rule in Odex's favour.

This is especially after it had successfully forced two other Internet service providers, StarHub and SingNet, to hand over the data of those suspected of illegal downloading.

In its letters of demand, Odex is asking for $3,000 to $5,000 compensation and also hinted of criminal prosecution should the subscriber refuse to pay up.

But the judge said under the Copyright Act, "only the copyright owner and the statutory exclusive licensee � have the right to take action against copyright infringers".

He added that Odex appeared to be the exclusive licensee for just one title, Mobile Suit Gundam Seed.

Odex said it would be appealing against the judgement. - CNA /ls

How Many Actually Survived Last Week's Onslaught?

Straits Time	3380.61	+21.43	(+0.64%)
SENSEX	15017.21	+148.96	(+1.00%)
UOB Sesdaq	228.30	-1.90	(-0.83%)
KLSE Comp	1296.48	+8.78	(+0.68%)
Nikkei 225	16800.05	+35.96	(+0.21%)
Hang Seng	21891.10	+98.39	(+0.45%)
Dow Jones	13311.89	+72.35	(+0.55%)
KOSPI	1849.26	+20.77	(+1.14%)
SSEC	4820.06	+70.69	(+1.49%)

Well, market is getting really volatile now with Sub prime woes and credit crunch unsolved. "Longist" that has been making a pile from the market for the past few months had their profit cut or even wipe out.

I would like to share with you the psychological behaviour of an amature investor. They are people whom underestimate the power of TA or technical analysis. Uptrend and downtrend detection. Although some are able to hold but ultimately it will be a scenario of unnecessary baby sitting. Consequently, as of current high-cap is going to be a roller coaster situation now. It thrills you by rebounding, but the rebound will be lower then of their falls. So after charting them, you will ultimately see a declination triangular formations. Pennies are different they are boundless in their interest and speculation making them attractive and profitable for the next few months or so, in my personal opinion.

Jade, LC Dev, Baker Tech, PSC Corp, Stratech, Lottvis, Lantrovis and Global Test will be in focus for the next few weeks at least.

Being very busy for the past weeks therefore had no time to calculate the portfolio. Will do it during my next posting. However, in a nutshell, fund holding with over weighted Asia equities exposure of mine sees a 15% decline to the current ROI of 15%. Outperform for Thailand, India, China and Korea. Especially China as they gear up for Olympics 2008.

Any opinion herein is made on a general basis and is not an inducement to trade.