9:22 pm - Malaysian shares close lower on political concerns; palm oil stocks fall

-UPDATE KUALA LUMPUR (Thomson Financial) - Malaysian shares closed lower on Wednesday amid domestic political uncertainties, with palm oil stocks leading the fall after the recent plunge in crude palm oil (CPO) prices sparked fears that earnings growth may disappoint this year. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI) finished down 10.76 points or 0.9 percent at 1,239.65. The FTSE Bursa Malaysia 30-large cap index dropped 75.42 points or 0.9 percent to 8,190.83 and the FTSE Bursa Malaysia second board index fell 42.08 points or 0.7 percent to 5,817.57. Decliners led advancers 390 to 305, with 275 stocks unchanged and 399 untraded. Trading volume was 696.05 million shares, valued at 1.37 billion ringgit ($425 million) Sentiment remained jittery after the steep selloff last month, said Kenny Yee, head of OSK Research. The KLCI tumbled 9.5 percent on March 10 after the ruling coalition suffered its worst-ever defeat in the March 8 polls, failing to maintain its two-thirds majority in parliament. "We believe damage has already been done, with sentiment now becoming more nervous. Any emergence of buying participation will be countered by strong profit-taking, hence the heightened volatility," said Yee. Domestic factors, such as the current political jockeying within the ruling coalition and the recent steep correction in CPO prices, have put investors on the defensive, said Ang Kok Heng, chief investment officer of Phillip Capital Management. Former premier Mahathir Mohamad on Tuesday urged party rank-and-file to oust Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, saying the ruling party could be destroyed if Abdullah stays in power. "When this sort of thing (party infighting) happens, the government's policy direction becomes unclear. The political stalemate could also affect the government's day-to-day operations as cabinet ministers become preoccupied with the conflict," said Ang. Sentiment was also dampened by the recent sharp drop in CPO prices, said Ang. Palm oil exports have become an important source of growth for Malaysia in recent years, with CPO prices hitting record levels. At the close of trade, palm oil stocks, which account for about 20 percent of the KLCI, were broadly lower. Sime Darby, the world's largest oil palm grower by planted area, fell 2.7 percent to 8.90 ringgit and IOI Corp, the second largest palm oil stock on the bourse by market value, lost 1.5 percent at 6.70 ringgit. Kuala Lumpur Kepong, which owns oil palm plantations in Malaysia and Indonesia, was flat at 15.40 ringgit while mid-sized planter Kulim dropped 2.7 percent to 7.25 ringgit. Malaysia's top bank Maybank lost 2.4 percent at 8.25 ringgit, national power utility Tenaga was steady at 7.50 ringgit and state-run Telekom Malaysia was unchanged at 10.70 ringgit. The Malaysian ringgit was quoted at 3.1905/1910 against the U.S. dollar. The three-month interbank rates were quoted at 3.55/58 percent and the overnight rates were at 3.48/50 percent.

8:59 pm - Bill & myself will be conducting a Master the Market : Foundation Course on April 7,8 2008

There are few seats left in this investing and trading course in KLSE stock market.

Bill will conduct the 1st day training on the foundation to trade KLSE stock market successfully.

I will cover MetaStock software and some futures trading technique on Day 2.


If you are interested, pls contact Dolly at 03 4252 4149 for registration or email me for queries at martin.wong@cimb.com

4:28 pm - KLCI wud close lower with a down trend

No good the chart ! THe market has priced in the political unstability posed by Dr. M against Pak Lah. That is why other markets go up and we went down !

3:35 pm - Weekly chart for KNM is beautiful !

Support at RM 4.95 or where you get out if you are wrong ! Entry - any time this week !

2:25 pm - Which is better ??? Hedge Fund vs. Global Fund

Dear Investors,

For those of us who understand hedge fund especially Man Fund has a long/short strategies which Global Fund like iCapital Global Fund has a long strategies (correct me if I am wrong).

Hedge Fund results from Man Fund based on month-to-month from Jul 07 till Feb 08

Taking the average 3 funds Series 12 OM-IP 220, OM-IP 2 Elcipse & OM-IP Vision at +6.43% , +22% & +1.65% = + 10%

And now compare to iCapital Global Fund !

If you look closer, icapital global fund manages only +1.57% and it compare itself to MSCI which perform badly.

So, if you looking purely from an apple-to-apple comparison i.e. on performance a fund with a long/short strategies like Man Fund will likely to do better than a fund with a single directional strategy ie long only .

Think about that !

9:44 am - From CIMB Research Desk

9:24 am - PB Bank is moving higher but on lower volume.

This morning, it forms a double top at 11 am.

9:18 am - KLCI gap up and starting to descend down !