Finance Online

Disaster in Our Educational System Koon Yew Yin Recently, I received an urgent note from a student who is doing matriculation in a Government school in Kedah where tuition and accommodation costs are covered by the state. I have been helping her with financial assistance for food and miscellaneous expenses since her father is unemployed and she is a deserving student from the poorer class. Her letter reads as follows: hi sir it's me …. sorry for disturbing sir. sir i want to ask sir something. sir i really need sir's help. sir if can sir can bank in some of the money before i further my studies in matriculation. sir i need to buy something as preparation to further my studies in matriculation sir. so please help me sir. i really dont know who to ask help. that why i am asking sir's help. please sir. i hope sir can help me because i dont know who to ask. sir i hope sir can understand me and give me some support. thank you sir. i hope sir will reply my letter as soon as possi...

How to interpret company announcements on Bursa Malaysia Koon Yew Yin As you know, there are daily many share recommendations from professional analysts employed by Financial Institutions. You must be careful when you read these articles because their main objective is to generate more trading business for their employers. Even if you are convinced in any particular counter, you must always check it up for its profit growth prospect from its Bursa announcements. My one golden rule in share selection is that I must be sure the company can make more profit in the current year than last year because if the company announces poor annual profit, the share price will tumble down. Even if it is cheap in terms of NTA and P/E ratio, It will continue to come down until it shows increasing profit. According to Malaysian Securities Commission’ rules all listed companies have to make announcements of their quarterly results and other business activities that are unusual to their daily business oper...

I do not have the time nor the resources or the inclination to dwell laboriously on the viability of Iskandar. Looking at the geography and proximity to Singapore, one should view Iskandar as a proxy play to Singapore's ascend up the value chain. Their lack of land is exactly what will ensure the long term viability for Iskandar. However the ride to the pot of gold will not be smooth. As there is not a strong central coordinating body, land is transacted as often and as willingly possible. When there is not central planning (I know there is one but toothless when it comes to the release and development schedule) body that is effective in controlling the supply and demand, it will be rough going.  As Singapore has to contend with its own woes in pockets of luxury housing (e.g. Sentosa), interest will be tepid. The aggressive projects by Chinese companies will also be a big headache.  Having said that, there will come a time where the ringgit is so attractively priced ...

Meet Joe Ades, better known in the internet world as the world's best salesman. His amazing story was that he sells $5 peelers since 1993. Naturally he made money, but he made more than enough to be living at Park Avenue, New York. So what's so different with him ... he is tenacious, and yes he has a great product to start with but by no means a MUST HAVE product. I think he deliberately priced it low at $5 so that it becomes an impulse buy, and he knows how to push those buttons for an impulse buy - "eh... its not going to break my bank or budget for the week", "seriously it looks damn useful, even if it breaks off after one week, its still just $5 only", ... He looks spiffy too, always in his suit. Might be overdressed for his job but thats his knack: by over-dressing, he attracts attention; by being in a suit, there is a sense of professionalism than say somebody trying to sell you things off the back of a truck; and he stays in the mode and worked in the...