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VIP Falls Behind Expectations – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 22:00:13 +0000

VimpelCom (VIP) reported third-quarter 2009 earnings of 42 cents per ADS (based on an average exchange rate of 31.26 RUR/US$) that narrowly missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 44 cents. However, the result beat the year-ago earnings per ADS of 27 cents.

The second-largest Russian telecom carrier reported quarterly net income of RUR13.5 billion (US$432 million), more than double the net income of RUR6.5 billion (US$208 million) reported in the year-ago quarter. This significant year-over-year growth is largely attributable to foreign exchange gains from a strong Russian ruble versus the US dollar.

Operating revenue increased 3.5% year over year to RUR71.3 billion (US$2.3 billion) as growth across Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan was partly offset by declines in Ukraine and Armenia. Revenue from the wireless operation was RUR60.7 billion (US$1.9 billion) while the fixed-line business generated revenue of RUR15.1 billion (US$483 million).

Reported OIBDA of RUR36 billion (US$1.2 billion) reflects a year-over-year growth of 7%, yielding an OIBDA margin of 50.4%. The annualized growth reflects the company’s ability to reduce costs amid the volatile economic environment. VimpelCom is pursuing various strategies to maximize cash flow through several cost-control measures.

The company’s total active cellular subscriber base grew by roughly 7.6 million year over year and by 1.7 million sequentially to 65.4 million. Its broadband subscriber base increased 11% sequentially to approximately 1.9 million.

On a geographic basis, revenue from Russia increased 4.1% year over year to RUR61.2 billion (US$1.9 billion), representing roughly 86% of the company’s total sales. Mobile subscriber base in Russia grew 13.2% year over year to 51 million. VimpelCom added 174,000 broadband subscribers during the quarter, bringing the total customer base to 1.83 million. The results were supported by a resurgent Russian economy.

Consolidated revenue from the CIS markets grew 3.9% year over year to RUR11.1 billion (US$355 million). Revenue from Kazakhstan (the largest CIS market) registered RUR5.4 billion (US$173 million), up 11.9% year over year. However, sales declined year over year in other key markets such as Ukraine (down 22.3%) and Armenia (down 3.4%).

During the quarter, VimpelCom spent RUR3.8 billion (US$122 million) in capital expenditures (CAPEX). The company has revised its CAPEX guidance reflecting a stronger ruble versus the dollar. VimpelCom expects CAPEX to be in the range of 10%-12% of its 2009 annual sales. The company plans to lift capital spending by at least 50% in 2010 to support 3G network expansion. VimpelCom’s 3G services currently cover all regions of Russia.

VimpelCom repaid debt worth US$690 million during the third quarter. The company successfully reduced its net debt to US$5.5 billion at the end of the quarter from $6.3 billion registered in the previous quarter.

In October 2009, the company’s two major shareholders Telenor and Altimo announced plans to merge their holdings in VimpelCom and Ukranian mobile operator Kyivstar to create a jointly owned telecom operator.

VimpelCom remains the second-largest wireless operator in Russia with over a 25% market share. Nevertheless, the company has a higher projected growth rate than its Russian peer Mobile Telesystems (MBT) as it continues to demonstrate the ability to succeed in emerging markets on the strength of sustained subscriber growth.

Besides maintaining its strong market position in the rapidly maturing Moscow metropolitan area, VimpleCom has successfully expanded into incipient Asian markets such as Vietnam and Cambodia. The company completed the commercial launch of its cellular operation in Cambodia in May 2009 under the Beeline brand. This was followed by the launch of wireless operation in Vietnam in July 2009. Moreover, VimpleCom recently signed an agreement to enter the Laos mobile market.

VimpelCom plans to cover more than two-third of Cambodia’s population by the end of 2009 and reach over 40 provinces and 41 million people in Vietnam by the end of January 2010. The relatively lower mobile penetration in these new Asian markets offers attractive growth opportunities for the company.
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More reflections on the 20th anniversary of the Berlin Wall falling

Robert Amsterdam — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 17:42:42 +0000

One of my favorite blogs, Business Monitor International's Risk Watchdog, had a post yesterday discussing the wider historical context of the Berlin Wall's fall. The discussion of the persistence of Communism and the comparison between 1979 and 1989 I personally...

Conoco Tops but Profit Falls – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 17:46:26 +0000

ConocoPhillips (COP) reported third-quarter earnings of $1.00 per share, above the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 93 cents. However, earnings per share were well below the year-earlier figure of $3.39.

This pronounced fall was mainly due to significantly lower commodity prices and a steep decline in refining margins, which more than offset production improvements and lower costs.

The Exploration and Production segment reported earnings of $978 million during the quarter, down nearly 75% year over year. The fall was mainly due to lower commodity prices, partially offset by higher volumes and lower operating costs. Daily production from the E&P segment (including Canadian Syncrude) averaged 1.79 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (MMBOE/d), up from 1.75 MMBOE/d in the year-ago quarter.

The year-over-year increase in production from new developments in the U.K., Russia, Norway, Vietnam, China and Canada has more than offset the impact of normal field decline. To some extent, production also increased due to higher operating efficiency and the impact of production-sharing contracts.

The Refining and Marketing segment reported a profit of $99 million, compared to a profit of $849 million in the year-ago quarter. The domestic refining crude oil capacity utilization rate for the quarter averaged 93%, compared to 90% a year earlier. International capacity utilization rate averaged 81%, versus 75% last year. Worldwide utilization averaged 90%, compared to 87% in the year-ago period.

The Midstream segment (which includes the company’s 50% interest in DCP Midstream LLC) contributed $62 million to the net income during the quarter, down approximately 64% year over year. The decline was due to lower realized prices and volumes.

ConocoPhillips’ earnings from its LUKOIL Investment segment came in at $545 million as against $438 million in the prior-year quarter. The year-over-year increase came primarily from refinery throughput. LUKOIL’s estimated contribution to the company’s quarterly E&P volumes was 424,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day. The Chemicals unit reported earnings of $104 million as against earnings of $46 million a year ago.

During the quarter, ConocoPhillips generated cash from operations of $2.9 billion. At the end of the quarter, the company had $30.5 billion in debt, with a debt-to-capitalization ratio of 33%. During the quarter, Conoco paid $700 million in dividends. The company invested $2.9 billion in capital expenditures.

At the beginning of the month, Conoco had increased its quarterly dividend by 6% to 50 cents per share (annualized rate of $2.00 per share) from the existing rate of 47 cents (annualized rate of $1.88).

Conoco intends to sell $10 billion of assets over the next two years. It has lowered its capex budget for 2010 ($11 billion vs. $12.5 billion) in an effort to strengthen its financial position and improve its balance sheet. It will use the sale proceeds to reduce its debt level and meet its stated target debt-to-capitalization ratio of 20% to 25% from the current level of 33%.

While Conoco wants to accelerate the return on capital employed (ROCE) through these strategic measures, it has been lagging behind its super-major peers in this respect. We believe that Conoco’s ability to bring its ROCE in line with its peers will become difficult, given its need for increased capital outlays to achieve upstream growth. Our Neutral recommendation remains unchanged.
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Micro Imaging Technology, Inc.’s (MMTC.OB) Malaysian Distributor Purchases MIT 1000 System

QualityStocks — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 12:36:17 +0000

Micro Imaging Technology, Inc. announced today that Biotek Sdn Bhd has purchased its first MIT 1000 System. Biotek Sdn Bhd was recently signed as the company’s distributor for Malaysia and other Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) which includes Indonesia, Singapore, The Philippines, Thailand and Cambodia, in addition to others. Recognized as a premier distributor [...]

Zacks Bull and Bear of the Day Highlights: VimpelCom, Rite Aid Corporation, Johnson & Johnson, Elan Pharmaceuticals and Gilead Sciences, Inc. – Press Releases

Zacks Market Commentaries — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 12:49:09 +0000

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – October 14, 2009 – Zacks Equity Research highlights VimpelCom (VIP) as the Bull of the Day and Rite Aid Corporation (RAD) the Bear of the Day. In addition, Zacks Equity Research provides analysis on Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Elan Pharmaceuticals (ELN) and Gilead Sciences, Inc. (GILD).

Full analysis of all these stocks is available at http://at.zacks.com/?id=2676

Here is a synopsis of all five stocks:

Bull of the Day:

We reaffirm our Outperform recommendation for VimpelCom (VIP), Russia's second largest cellular carrier with over 25% market share. Reported earnings in the last quarter outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate, driven by foreign exchange gains.

We continue to be intrigued by VimpelCom's successful sales growth trend and its ability to retain subscribers on a recurring basis, even as overall economic factors remain weak. The company is also progressing well in expanding its 3G wireless and residential broadband network deployments, as reflected by healthy subscriber accretion in the last quarter.

Additionally, the ongoing expansion initiatives into emerging Asian markets (including Cambodia and Vietnam) are expected to boost opportunity in wireless, given the lower mobile penetration levels in these regions.

Bear of the Day:

Management at Rite Aid Corporation (RAD) was executing a turnaround strategy centered on increasing the profitability of the existing store base.

However, the acquisition of Brooks Eckerd prior to a convincing turnaround in profitability has increased the debt burden and interest expense.

Moreover, Wal-Mart's foray into the retail generic drug market has pressured the company's pharmacy margin. Given the weakness of front-end sales and management's continual lowering of EPS guidance (for larger net losses), the stock's rating remains Underperform.

Resources: A Demand StoryResources: A Demand Story

Frank Holmes — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 05:00:00 +0000

This analysis from Dr. Marc Faber is adapted from our exclusive webcast Global Investing Outlook. Dr. Faber, based in Hong Kong, is a prominent international investor and a member of the influential Barronrsquo;s Roundtable. These are some of the thoughts he shared: If you look at the next 10 to 20 years in the West, I donrsquo;t see how the lifestyle of the average person will improve meaningfully. On the other hand, if you look at a country like Vietnam, they have a GDP per capita annually of $800 which may go to $3,000 over the next 15-20 years. The same is true for China and India. You suddenly have a middle class of 230 million people in India who will be buying cars like the $2,500 Nano (pictured) and other goods. Once a family moves from the bicycle to the motorcycle, itrsquo;s an improvement in their standard of living. But when you move to the car and drive your children to school in your car, itrsquo;s a huge increase in your standard of living and your social class. The Chinese have very little crude oil, natural gas, iron ore and copper of their own. This should support commodity prices because theyrsquo;re not going to stop buying these commodities. Chinese steel production went from 10 percent of the world in 1990 to over 40 percent today. Aluminum production went from 10 percent of the world in 2000 to over 30 percent. This isnrsquo;t because of exports ndash; it is domestic consumption which isnrsquo;t going away. The bull market in commodities that began in 2001 and lasted until the collapse in 2008 was too short to really trigger a supply response. This is because once the market collapsed, a lot of projects were cancelled and a lot of exploration companies didnrsquo;t get the money needed to carry on with exploration. In our lifetime, we will never again have a synchronized global boom like what wersquo;ve just experienced. Instead, you can expect some countries will do well and others will do less well. All opinions expressed and data provided are subject to change without notice. Some of these opinions may not be appropriate to every investor. #09-668

VimpelCom (VIP) – Bull of the Day

Zacks Market Commentaries — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 05:00:00 +0000

We reaffirm our Outperform recommendation for VimpelCom (VIP), Russia's second largest cellular carrier with over 25% market share. Reported earnings in the last quarter outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate, driven by foreign exchange gains.

In praise of emerging markets

Prieur du Plessis — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 05:30:06 +0000

"We are currently in the midst of a synchronized global recovery, and with aggressive government stimulus, strong balance sheets and an ever-growing share of global GDP, emerging markets are likely to outperform the developed markets due to strong domestic consumption and forward-looking infrastructure investments," said John Derrick in this guest post. A few interesting charts are included.

In Praise of Emerging MarketsIn Praise of Emerging Markets

Frank Holmes — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 05:00:00 +0000

This commentary is from John Derrick, U.S. Global Investorsrsquo; director of research. If you believe now is a good time to invest in U.S. stocks, emerging markets may offer even more opportunity. We believe global growth is the most powerful investment theme now and for the foreseeable future. You can see this playing out as countries like China, India and Brazil grow in economic stature. As we saw in Pittsburgh last week, the G-7 is being supplanted by the more inclusive G-20 when it comes to global economic decision-making. Emerging market stocks were hit especially hard during the financial crisis but have been among the best performers during the rebound. We are currently in the midst of a synchronized global recovery, and with aggressive government stimulus, strong balance sheets and an ever-growing share of global GDP, emerging markets are likely to outperform the developed markets due to strong domestic consumption and forward-looking infrastructure investments. The chart below from Goldman Sachs on consumer spending illustrates that point. Goldman estimates that consumer spending in China will increase by about 10 percent in 2010, while India and Brazil will be in the 4 percent to 6 percent range. At the same time, negative growth is expected in Spain, Britain and Italy, and the forecast for the United States is flat. Industrial production in emerging markets has recovered to roughly where it was when the recession began; in developed markets, IP is still down nearly 20 percent. This second chart, also from Goldman Sachs, compares the operating margins in developed and emerging markets for the companies in Europersquo;s Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index. The analysis going back to the early 1990s found that the emerging-market operations of these companies have consistently yielded higher margins, and oftentimes the spreads have been significant. U.S. Global Investors recently hosted a global outlook webcast that featured Dr. Marc Faber, the well-known investor based in Hong Kong. In the course of that webcast, Dr. Faber addressed the developed-versus-emerging issue: If you look at the next 10 to 20 years in the West, I donrsquo;t see how the lifestyle of the average person will improve meaningfully. On the other hand, if you look at a country like Vietnam, they have a GDP per capita annually of $800 which may go to $3,000 over the next 15-20 years. The same is true for China and India. You suddenly have a middle class of 230 million people in India who will be buying cars like the $2,500 Nano and other goods. Once a family moves from the bicycle to the motorcycle, itrsquo;s an improvement in their standard of living. But when you move to the car and drive your children to school in your car, itrsquo;s a huge increase in your standard of living and your social class. Global growth has been a tremendous benefit for commodities, with the key driver being strong demand from China. And as we pointed out in a recent webcast focused on China, that use of commodities is less to fuel export growth and more to satisfy domestic demand as income levels rise. Increasing demand for commodities and the corresponding rise in prices has positive knock-on effects for much of the developing world. The increasing importance of emerging countries in the world order also argues for their currencies to strengthen relative to the dollar. International stock markets outperformed the U.S. market during the 1970s and much of the 1980s, with much of that outperformance relating to relative currency strength. A continuation of the dollarrsquo;s decline in the face of slow growth and yawning budget deficits ndash; nearly $11 trillion between 2009 and 2019, according to White House estimates ndash; would provide a significant tailwind for globally-minded investors. All opinions expressed and data provided are subject to change without notice. Some of these opinions may not be appropriate to every investor. Foreign and emerging market investing involves special risks such as currency fluctuation and less public disclosure, as well as economic and political risk. The Dow Jones STOXX 600 Index is an index of 600 stocks representing large-, mid- and small-capitalization companies in the developed countries of Europe.

In Praise of Emerging Markets

Frank Holmes — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 05:00:00 +0000

The United States is the New Tanzania? Ugh…

Investment U — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 15:12:46 +0000

The United States is the New Tanzania? Ugh… by Robert Williams, Publisher Switzerland sits atop the overall ranking in The Global Competitiveness Report, just released by the World Economic Forum, representing the first time since 2004 that the United States doesn’t hold the top spot. But hey, that’s what being at the epicenter of a global financial [...]

Chunghwa Looks Beyond Taiwan – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 19:42:19 +0000

Taiwan’s largest integrated telecom operator Chunghwa Telecom Co. Ltd. (CHT) recently adopted a series of measures to expand its presence outside the country. The Taiwanese telecom market is quickly approaching maturity and has become extremely competitive following telecom regulatory changes.

The market size is comparably smaller than other regional country markets, with approximately 23 million potential customers. Therefore, geographical expansion is critical for Chunghwa’s operations to retain a leading edge.

The company formed a joint venture with Singapore Telecommunications Ltd. to build ST-2 telecommunications satellite network. Mitsubishi Electric Corp. and Integral Systems Inc. (ISYS) will install satellite ground system for the ST-2 program.

Chunghwa signed a memorandum of understanding with China Telecom Corp. Ltd. (CHA) to set up a joint venture to develop information and communications technologies in China.

As part of its next-generation network implementation program, the company is deploying Cisco System Inc.’s (CSCO) optical network solution to expand coverage from 6 to 12 cities in different countries of Asia, Europe and the U.S. Successful deployment of an all IP-based converged network will generate considerable international revenue (currently just 4% of total sales) as many Taiwanese firms have regional branches in several foreign countries.

Chunghwa has also entered into a joint venture with Viettel Corp to provide Internet Data Center services in Vietnam.

So-net Entertainment Corp of Japan formed an operational venture with Chunghwa to expand its Internet services. The company will acquire 30% stake of So-net for total consideration of Japanese Yen 170 million.

Chunghwa, China Unicom Ltd. (CHU) and Japan’s KDDI Corp. have decided to jointly build an undersea cable network called APCN3 for a total consideration of $ 500 million.

Along with these initiatives, Chunghwa has taken lot of other measures to improve sales. The company has started selling Apple Inc.’s (AAPL) 3G iPhone in Taiwan and entered an agreement with Warner Music Taiwan to pursue opportunities in the digital music market.

Going forward, we expect fierce competition as Chinese giant China Mobile Ltd. (CHL) has acquired a 12% stake in Chunghwa’s prime rival Far EasTone Telecommunications. In view of these competitive pressures, we believe geographical expansion and product innovation initiatives were crucial steps taken by Chunghwa’s management.

Read the full analyst report on "CHT"
Read the full analyst report on "ISYS"
Read the full analyst report on "CHA"
Read the full analyst report on "CSCO"
Read the full analyst report on "CHU"
Read the full analyst report on "AAPL"
Read the full analyst report on "CHL"
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Cavico Corp. (CAVO) Announces Tunnel Construction Contract

QualityStocks — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 20:08:21 +0000

Cavico Corp. has a proven track record of large-scale infrastructural development and natural resource exploitation in Vietnam. They announced yesterday the award of a contract from Vinh Son – Song Hinh Hydropower Joint Stock Company to construct an access tunnel and road servicing the Thuong Kon Tum hydro-electric plant. The contract is broken into two [...]

Asian Economies to ‘Lead the Recovery,’ Says ADB

Contrarian Profits — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 13:23:38 +0000

pAsian economies are recovering faster than previously thought and will lead the charge out of the worst global downturn since the 1930s, according to new forecasts by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) – a Manila-based institution that promotes economic and social progress in the Asia-Pacific region./p pAfter slashing its forecast for the region in March, the ADB reversed course in its updated ema href="http://www.adb.org/Documents/Books/ADO/2009/Update/" target="_blank"Asian Development Outlook (ADO) 2009/a/emem. The bank said developing economies in Asia would grow by 3.9% this year, up from its previous forecast of 3.4%./em/p p“Despite worsening conditions in the global economic environment, developing Asia is poised to lead the recovery from the worldwide slowdown,” said ADB Chief Economist Jong-Wha Lee./p pHowever, the growth will not be evenly distributed. Economic growth#8230;/p

The Next Big Thing: Emerging Asia

IndexUniverse Staff — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 12:51:28 +0000

Cris Sholto Heaton’s recent article on investing in the small Asian countries outside China and India brings a welcome change to the usual run-of-the-mill emerging markets coverage.

You can read the whole story here.

I’ve long been a big proponent of investing in so-called Asian frontier countries. As Cris points out, “These smaller countries complement China and India. They should benefit from the rise of their larger neighbors and the region as a whole, while offering exposure to different themes and sectors.”

In fact, when I talked to Franklin Templeton’s outgoing emerging market fund manager Mark Mobius earlier this year, he was in the process of putting more of his own personal money into these miniature high-growth markets (you can read that story here, but you’ll need to have access to Index Publications’ subscription-only monthly ETFR publication).

Cris highlights Vietnam as a location rich in the potential for returns. I think he’s right. After tumbling around 70 percent in value early last year, the market has staged a bit of a recovery so far this year, and stocks look attractive there now.

The Market Vectors Vietnam (NYSEArca: VNM) exchange-traded fund, which was launched only last month, is already up 12 percent. That’s the kind of dynamic place Vietnam is, with huge swings and wild statistics. What do you expect when half the population is under 25?

Indeed, one of the things that makes Vietnam so appealing right now is that it was only recently that the country took a dive. In emerging markets investing, you often find that a giant correction after a bubble brings with it all sorts of useful policy and financial innovations that, ultimately, lead to more stability and continued growth. This was the case with Thailand after 1997.

With that in mind, I found it unfortunate that Cris spent so much time discussing Malaysia and so little on Thailand. Thailand has gone through something of ruckus lately, with a militant left-wing government seizing power from a democratically elected right-wing one.

While it’s not exactly desirable to have a forced government in place, the country’s new prime minister, Abhisit Vejjajiva, is an impressive leader. Educated at Oxford University in England, Vejjajiva is a calmly spoken, economically sharp policymaker with a heavy international focus.

Unemployment in Thailand is now falling and gross domestic product growth is on course to climb again slightly. Property prices are rising, too, particularly in the south of the country and in Bangkok, its capital.

With the iShares MSCI Thailand Index Fund (NYSEArca: THD) up 76 percent year-to-date, just 16 percent below its 18-month-ago price of $50 a share, there’s good reason to believe that this ETF has found the support it needs to continue to outperform traditional emerging market benchmarks.

It’s often been said that Asian frontier markets are something of a 2010 story. With such impressive strength in large emerging markets this year, I think we are on course to hit that forecast.

FOMC Week…

Contrarian Profits — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 19:07:01 +0000

p The dollar pushes back! FOMC plays battleship? Norges Bank meets this week#8230;Precious metals give back too#8230;And Now#8230; Today#8217;s Pfennig!/p pGood day#8230; And a Marvelous Monday to you! Here we go#8230; Starting a new week all over again#8230; I have a blank page to start each day, and then 2 hours later#8230; The Fabulous Pfennig! A work of art, I must say! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!/p pWell#8230; Recall on Friday, I said that the non-dollar currencies would probably just follow whatever the stocks did, since the data cupboard was empty? Well, the non-dollar currencies didn#8217;t even follow that theme, as stocks pretty much wallowed around in the mud all day#8230; The dollar began to push back at the gains the other currencies had made during the#8230;/p

DrStockPick.com Stock Report! 9/18/09, CAVO, AVGO, DOW, CBEH, NWCI, LYV

Dr. Stock Pick — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 12:57:20 +0000

Dr Stock Pick HOT News & Alerts! _______________________________________ FREE Daily Stock Alerts From DrStockPick.com _______________________________________ Friday September 18, 2009 DrStockPick.com Stock Report! ************************************************************** Cavico Corp. (NASDAQ:CAVO), a leading infrastructure development company based in Vietnam, announced today that its common stock has been approved for listing on The NASDAQ Capital Market under the ticker symbol CAVO. Trading on The NASDAQ [...]

Wells Fargo Widens Remittance Ambit – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 20:30:09 +0000

Wells Fargo & Company (WFC) announced the expansion of its money transfer program to the Internet, making it easier for customers to send money to family members living in Mexico, India and other South Asian countries.

The ExpressSend remittance service was introduced in 2007 at the bank's branches and over the phone.

The transferred money can be collected from the branches of specified overseas banks and at their automated teller machines. Customers using the service online will continue to receive detailed information on how and where the money is being sent including the associated fee, the foreign exchange rate and the foreign exchange margin. The margin is the estimated revenue the bank earns on the conversion.

Wells Fargo said transaction fees will be discounted or even waived for customers sending money from eligible Wells Fargo checking and savings accounts. Money through the new service will arrive in Mexico, El Salvador and Guatemala on the same day it is sent and on the next business day in China, India, Vietnam and the Philippines.

The expansion will fulfill customers’ desire for anytime, anywhere banking, providing them with the flexibility and convenience of conducting their financial transactions whenever they want.

Wells Fargo reported second quarter net income of 57 cents per share. The company reported that the Wachovia merger is on track and expects to realize $5 billion of annual merger-related savings upon completion of the integration. During the latest reported quarter, 39% of the combined revenue came from Wachovia. With the combined resources, Wells Fargo will be in an even better position to satisfy its customers’ financial needs.

We maintain a Neutral recommendation on the shares of Wells Fargo.
Read the full analyst report on "WFC"
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CCE Updates Guidance – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 19:33:58 +0000

Correcting and Replacing - Coca-Cola Enterprises (CCE) updated its guidance, not The Coca-Cola Company (KO), as the orginal version stated. KO has NOT provided guidance.

Coca-Cola Enterprises (CCE) on Tuesday September 8, 2009, narrowed its annual earnings guidance to the high end of the previously guided range of $1.44 to $1.49 per share. The revision was based on the performance of the company in the third quarter so far.

The guidance excludes one-time items and includes an approximate 15 cent per share of negative currency translation. Management intends to boost sales through continued investment in its brands and new product innovation.

Moreover, during the quarter, the company announced plans to invest an additional $200 million in Vietnam over the next three years. The company has already invested $200 million in its operations, comprising bottling plants near Hanoi, Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City.

Management at The Coca Cola Company considers Vietnam an important growth market. Moreover, strong performances for the company in emerging markets could also be a major factor behind management’s decision to make investments.

Apart from this, the company and its bottling partner announced a $2 billion, 3-year investment plan in China. This investment is primarily aimed at further strengthening its growth in one of the world's largest and fastest-growing beverage markets.

Coca Cola has also invested more than $5 billion in Russia, primarily targeted at developing infrastructure, technology, social and environmental programs, marketing programs, training programs and products with special emphasis on employment generation.

The company’s prime competitor, PepsiCo (PEP) also has significant investments in China and Russia, to the tune of $1 billion each.
Read the full analyst report on "CCE"
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Read the full analyst report on "KO"
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Coca Cola Reiterates Guidance – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 14:50:10 +0000

The Coca Cola Company (KO) on Tuesday September 8, 2009, narrowed its annual earnings guidance to the high end of the previously guided range of $1.44 to $1.49 per share. The revision was based on the performance of the company in the third quarter so far.

The guidance excludes one-time items and includes an approximate 15 cent per share of negative currency translation. Management intends to boost sales through continued investment in its brands and new product innovation.

Moreover, during the quarter, the company announced plans to invest an additional $200 million in Vietnam over the next three years. The company has already invested $200 million in its operations, comprising bottling plants near Hanoi, Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City.

Management at The Coca Cola Company considers Vietnam an important growth market. Moreover, strong performances for the company in emerging markets could also be a major factor behind management’s decision to make investments.

Apart from this, the company and its bottling partner announced a $2 billion, 3-year investment plan in China. This investment is primarily aimed at further strengthening its growth in one of the world's largest and fastest-growing beverage markets.

Coca Cola has also invested more than $5 billion in Russia, primarily targeted at developing infrastructure, technology, social and environmental programs, marketing programs, training programs and products with special emphasis on employment generation.

The company’s prime competitor, PepsiCo (PEP) also has significant investments in China and Russia, to the tune of $1 billion each.
Read the full analyst report on "KO"
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Zacks Investment Research

Cavico Corp. (CAVO.OB) Finishes Construction on Hydropower Plant

QualityStocks — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 16:16:51 +0000

Today, Cavico Corp., a leading infrastructure development company, announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Cavico Hydropower Construction JSC, has completed the construction of the Dasiat Hydropower Plant. The subsidiary has begun the process of transferring the project over to Southern Hydropower Joint Stock Company, the project’s owner. Cavico Hydropower started this $4.6 million construction project in [...]

EXXI, VIP, MDCO Stock-PR Stock Headlines September 4, 2009

Stock-PR — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 12:07:09 +0000

Energy XXI (Bermuda) Limited (EXXI) Gulf Coast, Inc. (the “Company”) today September 4, 2009 announced it has commenced an exchange offer and consent solicitation in respect of its 10% Senior Notes due 2013 (the “Senior Notes”). The Company has commenced an offer to exchange up to $360 million principal amount outstanding Senior Notes properly tendered (and [...]

Cavico Corp. (CAVO.OB) Signs $16 Million Contract for Tunnel Construction at Vietnamese Hydropower Plant

QualityStocks — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 19:58:36 +0000

Cavico Corporation is a leading infrastructure development and natural resources conglomerate based in Vietnam. The company works on projects which include the construction of roads, bridges, tunnels, dams, hydropower facilities, buildings, cement plants and mines in Vietnam. Cavico announced today that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Cavico Transport Construction JSC and its joint venture partners – General Construction [...]

Cavico Corp. (CAVO.OB) Signs $16 Million Contract for Tunnel Construction at Vietnamese Hydropower Plant

QualityStocks — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 19:58:36 +0000

FX Gains Help VimpelCom – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 20:30:31 +0000

Yesterday, VimpelCom (VIP) posted second-quarter profit of 69 cents per ADR (based on an average exchange rate 32.21 RUR/US$) that outpaced both the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 42 cents and the year-ago earnings of 46 cents.

The company reported quarterly net income of RUR22.6 billion ($701.5 million), more than double the net income of RUR11.1 ($345 million) reported in the year-ago period. This significant year-over-year growth was largely attributable to the RUR10.6 billion ($329 million) in foreign exchange gains from a strong ruble versus the US dollar.

VimpelCom’s net operating revenue in the quarter was RUR69.0 billion ($2.1 billion), reflecting 12% and 3.3% increase over the year-ago and the previous quarter, respectively. While sales from its wireless operation came in at RUR58.2 billion ($1.8 billion), the fixed-line business generated revenue of RUR14.6 billion ($453 million). The reported OIBDA of RUR35 billion ($1.1 billion) reflects a year-over-year growth of 8.7%, yielding an OIBDA margin of 50.6%.

The company’s total active cellular subscriber base grew by about 10 million year over year and by 1 million sequentially to 63.7 million at the end of the second quarter. Its broadband subscriber base increased 11.3% sequentially to approximately 1.7 million.

Reviewing operations by territory, revenue from Russia tallied RUR59.1 billion ($1.8 billion), up 11.8% year over year, accounting for more than 85% of VimpelCom’s total sales. Total mobile subscriber base reached 49.97 million (up 17.6% year over year) from 49.35 million in the previous quarter. Broadband subscriber base grew to 1.66 million from 1.5 million sequentially. Russian ARPU (average revenue per user) fell 7.2% year over year but rose 5.2% sequentially to RUR322.5 ($10).

Total operating revenue of RUR10.7 billion ($332 million) in the CIS markets reflects a 16.3% year-over-year growth. Revenue from Kazakhstan (the largest CIS market) registered sales of RUR5.1 billion ($158 million), up 15.6% year over year. Revenue from the other key CIS markets were: RUR1.6 billion ($50 million) in Ukraine (down 2.3% year over year), RUR1.6 billion ($50 million) in Armenia (up 3.7%) and RUR1.7 billion ($53 million) in Uzbekistan (up 37.8%).

During the quarter, VimpelCom had RUR5 billion ($155 million) in capital expenditures. It plans to raise this level in the second half of the year for expanding business operations.

Last month, the company successfully placed ruble bonds worth RUR10 billion ($303 million). Net proceeds from this issue will be used to refinance existing foreign currency denominated debt and finance the ongoing business-expansion initiatives. VimpelCom repaid debt worth $456 million during the second quarter.

VimpelCom remains the second-largest wireless operator in Russia with over 25% market share. Nevertheless, the company has a higher projected growth rate than its Russian peer Mobile Telesystems (MBT) as it continues to demonstrate the ability to succeed in emerging markets on the strength of sustained subscriber growth.

Besides maintaining its strong market position in the rapidly maturing Moscow metropolitan area, VimpleCom has started expanding into incipient markets like Vietnam and Cambodia. The company completed the commercial launch of its cellular operation in Cambodia in May under the Beeline brand and plans to cover more than two-third of the country’s population by the end of 2009.

Recently, VimpelCom launched commercial mobile operation in Vietnam in three major provinces of the country. It plans to reach over 40 provinces and 41 million people by the end of 2009, translating into a 48% penetration of the country’s population. The relatively lower mobile penetration rates in these markets offer attractive growth opportunity for the company.

We expect acquisitions and expansions in emerging markets to enhance prospects in the wireless space and foster much of the company’s growth going forward.

Read the full analyst report on "VIP"
Read the full analyst report on "MBT"
Zacks Investment Research

PennyOmega.com Stock Report! 8/25/09, ANAD, TOOT, DTVI, RVBD, NSPH, IFSL

PennyOmega.com — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 13:17:11 +0000

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ConocoPhillips Signs for New Wells – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 16:30:21 +0000

ConocoPhillips (COP) inked an agreement with the Greka unit of China-based Green Dragon Gas Ltd. (GDG) to develop wells at Greka’s Chinese coal bed methane (CBM) production sharing contracts.

Under the terms of the agreement, ConocoPhillips will make an initial payment of $20 million to Green Dragon and would also fund up to a total of $30 million of the capital expenditure to develop wells at the Shizhuang South, Shizhuang North and Qinyuan blocks in China.

Apart this, ConocoPhillips’ creation of an Australasian natural gas business in 2008 focused on coalbed methane production and LNG processing with Origin Energy (a leading Australian integrated energy company) is expected to cement the company’s competitive position in the rapidly growing LNG market.

ConocoPhillips may continue with a second phase of development and pay $120 million to acquire 50% of Greka’s interest in three of its six Chinese CBM production sharing contracts.

ConocoPhillips added a number of high impact projects and achieved exploration successes in offshore China, Vietnam and the Gulf of Mexico regions. The company anticipates strong growth in the Asia-Pacific, Russia, the Caspian and the Middle East regions to offset natural declines in its North American and North Sea assets.

While recent turnaround in crude oil prices is beneficial to the entire sector, we are maintaining our Neutral recommendation on ConocoPhillips shares, given the company’s disadvantages relative to its super major peers. These disadvantages include a high-cost OECD-centric asset base and heavy exposure to the relatively tentative outlook for U.S. natural gas (about one-third of total volumes) and refining markets.
Read the full analyst report on "COP"
Zacks Investment Research

Cavico Corp. (CVIC.OB) Announces Two Construction Projects to Assist in Hydropower Expansion

QualityStocks — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 12:24:50 +0000

Cavico Corp. focuses on large infrastructure projects and construction, as well as urban developments, in Vietnam. The company recently issued a press release announcing two contracts, both of which have valued revenues of $1.4 million. The company’s first announcement centers on its wholly owned subsidiary Cavico Transport Construction JSC, which has inked a deal with Dakdrinh [...]

Energy Blast – August 20, 2009

Robert Amsterdam — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 09:07:46 +0000

Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko has said that electricity prices must increase following the disaster at the Sayano-Shushenskaya hydroelectric plant as it has seen a quarter of RusHydro's power production suspended. Clean-up efforts have begun to attempt to minimize the damage...

Tiens Biotech Group, Inc. (TBV) Finds Export Sales to Vietnam/Indonesia Boosting Net Income

QualityStocks — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 16:03:17 +0000

Understanding your customer base may seem like an obvious statement in the manufacturing world. Unfortunately, the statement is all too often ignored. When a cultural aspect is added into the equation, understanding cultural needs and requirements becomes even more of an imperative as ignoring it will ultimately doom a project. If, however, a company can [...]

Hot Stocks: With an Emerging Markets Foray, Molson and SABMiller Quench Their Thirst For Global Growth

Jason Simpkins — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 18:24:09 +0000

Obscure Law Forces Companies to Come Clean on Gold Mandatory government filing NI 43-101 required gold mining companies in Canada to disclose how much gold they really have. This one company’s filing just revealed that it’s sitting on the 7th largest gold strike in North American history. Few know about this yet. And for [...]

EXOU Exousia Updates Status of Relationship with Northern International Group (DrStockPick Stock Report!)

Dr. Stock Pick — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 09:39:43 +0000

EXOU, Exousia Advanced Materials Inc, EXOU.OB DrStockPick Stock Report! Dr Stock Pick HOT News & Alerts! Exousia Updates Status of Relationship with Northern International Group Wednesday August 12, 2009 DrStockPick News Report! ************************************************************** Exousia Updates Status of Relationship with Northern International Group SUGAR LAND, Texas /CRWENewswire/ — Exousia Advanced Materials, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: EXOU), a manufacturer of advanced industrial coatings for worldwide [...]

With an Emerging Markets Foray, Molson and SABMiller Quench Their Thirst for Global Growth

Contrarian Profits — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 23:30:30 +0000

pWith sales volume plunging in Western markets, Molson Coors Brewing Co. (NYSE: a href="http://www.google.com/finance?q=tap" target="_blank"TAP/a) and SABMiller PLC (OTC ADR: a href="http://www.google.com/finance?q=OTC%3ASBMRY" target="_blank"SBMRY/a) are tapping into emerging markets for refreshing growth./p pSABMiller, for instance, saw beer sales slump 7% in Europe and 0.8% in the United States, while Africa and Asia combined for 11% sales growth. Sales in China alone soared 17% in the quarter./p p“a href="http://www.sabmiller.com/files/reports/ar2009/2009_annual_report.pdf" target="_blank"While demand in Europe has dropped sharply/a, countries in emerging markets such as Africa and Asia have fared relatively well despite falling back from the high - one might say unsustainable rates of growth of recent years,” said SABMiller Chairman Meyer Kahn./p pAs a percentage of commercially produced alcohol, beer now accounts for 49.0% of the market in Africa and 32.8% in#8230;/p

Yahoo Seeks New Avenues – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 16:29:28 +0000

With the search business sorted out through the Microsoft (MSFT) deal, Yahoo Inc. (YHOO) is beginning to focus on other areas. The company announced two new initiatives to boost revenue.

The first is the expansion of its sales force in Southeast Asia. Internet usage in the region has been growing rapidly over the last few years, driving increasing interest in online advertising. Online advertising industries in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam are expected to grow around 60% between 2008 and 2010.

The newly appointed direct sales team will join forces with the existing Singapore-based team to develop localized marketing campaigns in Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam. The idea is to sell online advertising in form of display, search or through a mobile platform. We think this is a pertinent move and it is time Yahoo started cementing relationships in the region.

The second initiative is designed to attract U.S. customers who have been hit hard by the recession. It is a new website called Yahoo Deals (http://deals.yahoo.com) that provides a host of information about bargain agreements. It also offers coupons for groceries, local stores and online printable form for a large number of products, such as clothing, beauty, baby, computers, video games, flowers, gifts, automotive products, electronics and gardening.

A separate tab called Weekly Ads directs users to special offers by big local brands. The website also enumerates special offers for Visa card holders at local restaurants, retailers and service providers. Customers who wish to purchase coupons and take a print out later can save the coupons to their own account. Yahoo recently conducted a survey that proved the growing demand for coupons and limited availability. We believe this website is likely to attract many customers in the current market environment.

New CEO Carol Bartz seems to know what she wants. Despite weak results for some time now, Yahoo had been clinging on to all business lines. Bartz was quick to generate cash from the search business and is now giving the company the much-needed direction. We think the above measures will strengthen Yahoo’s revenue opportunities and provide the company with tools to generate cash in a weak environment.

Read the full analyst report on "MSFT"
Read the full analyst report on "YHOO"
Zacks Investment Research

EXOU.OB Exousia Updates Status of Relationship with Northern International Group

Stock-PR — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 16:16:40 +0000

Exousia Advanced Materials, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: EXOU), a manufacturer of advanced industrial coatings for worldwide infrastructure applications and engineered composites for eco-friendly wood substitutes, takes this opportunity to announce that Exousia’s relationship with Northern International Group (NIG) is in excellent condition. As previously reported, NIG had committed to purchase a minimum of 200,000 gallons of [...]

EXOU Exousia Updates Status of Relationship with Northern International Group (PennyOmega.com Stock Report!)

PennyOmega.com — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 15:57:17 +0000

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EXOU Exousia Updates Status of Relationship with Northern International Group (DrStockPick Stock Report!)

Dr. Stock Pick — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 15:38:40 +0000

EXOU, Exousia Advanced Materials Inc, EXOU.OB DrStockPick Stock Report! Dr Stock Pick HOT News & Alerts! Exousia Updates Status of Relationship with Northern International Group Tuesday August 11, 2009 DrStockPick News Report! ************************************************************** Exousia Updates Status of Relationship with Northern International Group SUGAR LAND, Texas, Aug. 11 /CRWENewswire/ — Exousia Advanced Materials, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: EXOU), a manufacturer of advanced industrial coatings [...]

The Brewer’s Art: Beer Companies Quench Their Thirst For Growth by Tapping Into Emerging Markets

Jason Simpkins — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 00:17:57 +0000

1,100 People Just Learned How To Collect $4,000 In One Month No tricks or “catches” were involved. No fancy investment “plays” either. In fact, the $4,000 was guaranteed. No ifs, ands, or buts. All these people had to do to get this money was take a few simple steps every investor knows how to do [...]

ConocoPhillips Beats Despite Slump – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 18:15:13 +0000

ConocoPhillips (COP) reported second-quarter earnings of $0.87 per share, above the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.83 per share.

However, earnings per share were well below from the year-earlier figure of $3.50. This significant downfall was mainly due to significantly lower commodity prices and a steep decline in worldwide marketing margins, which more than offset production improvements and lower costs.

The Exploration and Production segment reported earnings of $725 million during the quarter, down nearly 82% year over year. The fall was mainly due to lower commodity prices, partially offset by higher volumes and lower operating costs. Daily production from the E&P segment including Canadian Syncrude averaged 1.87 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (MMBOE/d), up from 1.75 MMBOE/d in the year-ago quarter.

The year-over-year increase in production from new developments in the U.K., Russia, Norway, Vietnam, China and Canada more than offset the impact of normal field decline. To some extent, production also increased due to less unplanned downtime and the impact of production-sharing contracts.

The Refining and Marketing segment reported a loss of $52 million, compared to a profit of $664 million in the year-ago quarter. The year-over-year decrease was primarily due to reduced refining volumes and worldwide lower marketing margins.

The domestic refining crude oil capacity utilization rate for the quarter averaged 93%, compared to 94% a year earlier. International capacity utilization rate averaged 72%, versus 88% last year. Worldwide utilization averaged 88%, compared to 93% in the year-ago period.

The Midstream segment (which includes the company’s 50% interest in DCP Midstream LLC) contributed $31 million to net income during the quarter, down approximately 81% year over year. The decline was due to lower realized prices and volumes.

ConocoPhillips’ earnings from its LUKOIL Investment segment came in at $682 million as against $774 million in the prior-year quarter. The year-over-year decrease came from lower realized prices, partially offset by lower taxes and higher volumes. LUKOIL’s estimated contribution to the company’s quarterly E&P volumes was 442,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.

The Chemicals unit reported earnings of $67 million as against earnings of $18 million a year ago. The year-over-year improvement was mainly driven by lower operating costs.

At the end of the quarter, ConocoPhillips had $0.9 billion in cash and $30.4 billion in debt, with a debt-to-capitalization ratio of 34%. During the quarter, the company paid $700 million in dividends. ConocoPhillips generated $2.6 billion in cash from operations during the quarter and invested $2.9 billion in capital expenditures. The company maintained its total 2009 capital budget at $12.5 billion.

While turnaround in crude oil prices is beneficial to the entire sector, we are maintaining our Hold recommendation on ConocoPhillips shares given the company’s competitive disadvantages relative to its super major peers. These disadvantages include a high-cost OECD-centric asset base and heavy exposure to the relative tentative outlook for U.S. natural gas (more than a third of total volumes) and refining markets. Our preferred names in the integrated space remain ExxonMobil (XOM) and Chevron (CVX).

Read the full analyst report on "COP"
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Honda Profit Plummets – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 18:48:03 +0000

Japan’s second-biggest automaker Honda (HMC) reported a sharp 95.6% fall in profit for the first quarter of its financial year ended June 30 due to a severe decline in unit sales. In absolute terms, consolidated net income reached $79 million (JPY 7.56 billion) or 4 cents (JPY 4.17) per share from $1.81 billion (JPY 173 billion) or $1.00 (JPY 95.56) per share in the prior-year quarter.

Consolidated operating income dipped 88% to $262 million (JPY 25.1 billion) due to decreased profits attributable to decreased revenue, an increase in fixed costs per unit as a result of reduced production and the unfavorable impact of currency effects caused by the appreciation of the Japanese yen.

Revenue in the quarter sunk 30% to $20.9 billion (JPY 2,002.2 billion), a result of decreased revenue in the automobile business and unfavorable currency translation effects.

In the Motorcycle segment, sales declined 17% to 2.25 million units. Unit sales in Japan shrank 22% to 45,000 units. Unit sales outside of Japan decreased 16.9% to 2.21 million units. This was due to a decrease in sales of motorcycle knocked-down parts for local production at Asian affiliates accounted for under the equity method and decreased unit sales in other regions including South America, more than offsetting increased unit sales in India and Vietnam. Revenue from sales to external customers declined 35% to $2.67 billion (JPY 256.3 billion) due to decreased unit sales and unfavorable currency translation effects.

In the Automobile segment, sales dipped 20% to 766,000 units. In Japan, unit sales amounted to 128,000 units, the same compared to the corresponding period last year. Results were due mainly to favorable sales of the Insight hybrid and FREED models despite a weak demand in the market.

Unit sales outside of Japan decreased 23.5% to 638,000 units due to decreased unit sales in North America. Revenue from sales to external customers decreased 32% to $15.9 billion (JPY 1,523.4 billion) due to lower unit sales and unfavorable currency translation effects.

Revenue from customers in the Financial Services business rose 7% to $1.62 billion (JPY 155.9 billion) due to an increase in operating lease revenues.

In the Power Product business, unit sales decreased 13.5% to 1.16 million units. In Japan, unit sales fell 55% to 71,000 units. Unit sales outside of Japan dipped 8% to 1.09 million units due to a decline of unit sales in Europe. Revenue from sales to external customers declined 34% to $693 million (JPY 66.5 billion) due to decreased unit sales of power products and unfavorable currency translation effects.

For fiscal 2010, Honda projected a 17% decline in net sales and other operating revenue to $86.5 billion (JPY 8,280 billion). Profit is expected to tumble 60% to $575 million (JPY 55 billion) or 32 cents (JPY 30.31) per share.

We continue to recommend HMC as Hold with a six-month target price of $27.00.
Read the full analyst report on "HMC"
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China Warns (Again), The Housing Faux-Recovery, Three Sectors to Short and More!

Contrarian Profits — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 14:00:22 +0000

pChina turns it up another notch… now “concerned about the security” of U.S. investments#8230; a href="http://www.contrarianprofits.com/articles/author/chris-mayer/" class="alinks_links"Chris Mayer/a tells the “story of today’s economy”#8230; Mainstream celebrates latest home price index… our perceptive on the housing “recovery”#8230; Three market sectors currently detached from reality#8230; The truth emerges… why Ben Bernanke really bailed out Wall Street#8230;/p p Here it comes, slowly but surely: strong“We sincerely hope the U.S. fiscal deficit will be reduced, year after year,” /strongChina’s Assistant Finance Minister Zhu Guangyao said overnight after talks with Treasury Secretary Geithner. Could he lay it out any more clearly than this? “The Chinese government is a responsible government, and first and foremost our responsibility is the Chinese people, so of course we are concerned about the security of the Chinese assets.#8221;/p pThe Chinese now#8230;/p

SKM Sales Top Forecasts – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 17:11:10 +0000

SK Telecom (SKM) reported its second quarter earnings today, with net income falling short of consensus estimates while sales exceeded the average forecast. South Korea’s leading wireless operator reported revenue of KRW 3.07 trillion (US$2.39 billion) and net income of KRW 311.6 billion (US$243 million), both above our expectations.

Reported revenue grew 4.7% year over year and 6.7% sequentially, boosted by healthy growth in wireless Internet revenue and consistent increase in subscriber count. Operating income increased 3.8% year over year to KRW 553.4 billion (US$432 million).

Net income increased 4.6% year over year while declining 1.6% from the previous quarter. Profitability was affected by higher marketing expenses (up 8.3% year over year and 44% sequentially) fueled by increased subscriber acquisition cost.

The company reported wireless Internet revenues of KRW 671.2 billion (US$524 million), up 11.8% over the prior-year quarter, representing the highest level in a year and a half. This growth was fostered by 33% annualized increase in flat-rate data plan subscribers that reached 3.18 million at the end of the quarter.

Total cellular service revenue grew 4% year over year to KRW 2.75 trillion (US$2.15 billion) while interconnection revenue increased 10% versus a year-ago quarter, reaching KRW320 billion (US$250 million) driven by increase in call traffic volume.

Total subscribers in the second quarter increased 5% over the prior-year quarter to 23.83 million, reflecting a net addition of 483,000 customers. Reported average revenue per user (ARPU) was KRW 43,369 (US$33.83), flat year over year due to increased customer subscription to its discounted family rate plan and bundled products. Churn remained stable year over year while increasing sequentially to 3.2%.

SK Telecom incurred capital expenditures of KRW 667.4 billion (US$521 million) during the first half of 2009, up 10% year over year. Out of this, KRW 319 billion (US$249 million) was spent in the second quarter and was devoted towards securing additional wireless network capacity and improving call quality.

The company is pursuing business opportunities in emerging markets (including Vietnam and Mongolia) given limited growth prospects in the highly matured domestic wireless market. Expansion initiatives also include a partnership with China Unicom (CHU) and sizable opportunities in the U.S. through an investment in Virgin Mobile.

Other avenues for growth are represented by the ongoing technology upgrades and expansion of 3G network, IPTV and smartphone offerings and mobile banking services in collaboration with Citibank (C).

SK Telecom has also established a retail unit to promote bundled services to counter competition in the domestic wireless market. Additionally, acquisition of its affiliate SK Networks’ network assets (expected by Sep 30, 2009) will provide cost saving synergies and improve network efficiency.

Nevertheless, competition has increased in the Korean mobile market due to the consolidation of KT Corp. (KTC) and its wireless unit KT Freetel in June 2009. As such, SKM faces greater challenges in retaining wireless market share moving forward considering the highly penetrated domestic market.

We reiterate our Hold rating for SK Telecom as we assess the sustainability of the company’s earnings power and subscriber retention for the remainder of 2009.
Read the full analyst report on "SKM"
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Zacks Investment Research

Dot VN, Inc. (DTVI.OB) Names Director of Communications and Business Development Louisa T. Huynh

QualityStocks — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 12:28:07 +0000

Dot VN, Inc., a provider of Internet and telecommunication services and the exclusive online global domain name registrar for the country of Vietnam, recently announced that the company has hired Louisa T. Huynh as the director of communications and business development. In this role, Ms. Huynh manages public relations, develops marketing strategies and directs all [...]

VimpelCom Expands to Vietnam – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 23:51:00 +0000

The second-largest cellular carrier in Russia, VimpelCom (VIP), announced the commercial launch of its wireless operation in Vietnam under its Beeline brand. The company will initially roll out services in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Danang, covering a population of over 15 million. This follows the launch of the company's mobile operation in Cambodia in May 2009.

In July 2008, VimpelCom signed a definitive agreement to establish GTEL-Mobile, a mobile telecom joint-venture company for constructing GSM-based wireless networks in Vietnam. The other parties in this joint-venture pact are Global Telecommunications Corporation, a state-owned enterprise, and GTEL TSC, a subsidiary of GTEL.

Under the deal terms, VimpelCom has acquired 40% interest in GTEL-Mobile with GTEL and GTEL TSC retaining 51% and 9% stake, respectively. In early 2009, VimpelCom obtained a license from the Vietnamese government to build and operate a GSM cellular network under the joint-venture.

VimpelCom remains the second-largest wireless operator in Russia with over 25% market share. Nevertheless, the company has a higher projected growth rate than its nearest competitor, Mobile Telesystems (MBT) as it continues to demonstrate the ability to succeed in emerging markets bolstered by sustained subscriber growth. Besides maintaining its strong market position in the rapidly-maturing Moscow metropolitan area, VimpelCom has instituted expansion activities in regions outside of Russia. As part of this strategy, the company is currently exploring business opportunities in relatively under-penetrated incipient markets in Southeast Asia.

Being one of the fastest-growing economies (GDP growth of 6.2% in 2008) in Southeast Asia, Vietnam represents a significant growth prospect for VimpelCom with approximately 58% penetration in mobile telephony. The company will invest approximately $1 billion in the country over the next several years for the development of GSM-based wireless services. The GTEL-Mobile joint venture plans to cover over 40 provinces of Vietnam by the end of 2009, addressing a population of 41 million, translating into 48% penetration of the country's population.

We expect acquisitions and expansion opportunities in emerging markets to foster much of the company's growth moving forward. Consequently, we maintain our Buy rating for VimpelCom.

Read the full analyst report on "VIP"
Zacks Investment Research

IDO Security, Inc. (IDOI.OB) Expands Presence in Southeast Asia with Multi-Unit Order of MagShoe™ in Vietnam

QualityStocks — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 14:10:39 +0000

IDO Security, Inc., a designer, developer and marketer of the patented, UL-certified MagShoe™ weapons metal detection system, recently announced a multi-unit order with a major security products distribution specialist based in Vietnam. The company’s innovative “shoes-on” weapons metal detection system provides thorough scanning of the lower body and feet and will be shipped to major [...]

Panasonic Eyes Emerging Markets – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 20:00:45 +0000

Based in Osaka, Japan, Panasonic Corp. (PC) is a leading manufacturer of electronic and electrical parts component. To grow market shares in emerging markets such as Brazil, Russia, India, and China (BRIC), Vietnam, Africa, and Latin America and increase customer base in these countries, Panasonic plans to develop a line of low-priced consumer-electronics products which has limited features.

In order to tap consumers in the emerging market, Panasonic will launch TVs for $50, air conditioners for $100 and washing machines for $200, which are expected to hit markets after October this year. Panasonic plans to use "lifestyle research" for the designing of these products.

We believe Panasonic’s success lies in is its ability to respond to rapid technological changes and changing consumer preferences with timely and cost-effective introductions of new low-priced products in markets, which are both price and technology conscious and are very competitive.

These low-priced products would increase sales of the consumer products division by 200 billion yen ($2 billion). In BRIC countries as well as Vietnam, the company expects to reach a sales target of 300 yen ($3 billion) and an average annual growth rate of 20%. Panasonic aims to achieve double-digit growth in overseas sales with an average annual growth rate of 13% by 2010 by focusing on emerging markets.

Panasonic aims to build relationships with retailers in the U.S. and European markets, while aiming to further increase the number of product models by 50% in the emerging markets by shifting to various low-priced products.

While we expect the new lower priced TVs and washing machines to increase unit sales, we remain apprehensive about the impact of these products on profitability and revenue. Additionally, low-end features could hurt Panasonic’s global brand image and premium reputation.

By cutting down features and providing just basic design and manufacturing, Panasonic plans to cut rising raw material costs and overall development costs for its digital products. Panasonic said it will need to perform a complete overhaul of how it conceives, designs and manufactures its products. On top of this, local competition from small manufacturers who can adjust their prices quickly will result in severe pricing pressure for Panasonic.

Panasonic did not provide any details of its product strategies. Panasonic said in a statement that it plans to continue with the strategy only if it can maintain profitability.

While Panasonic is the first Japanese company to launch ultra low-price products to tap customers in emerging markets, it faces competition from large international companies such as South Korean companies - Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics and other Japanese companies, such as Hitachi (HIT), Sony (SNE) and Sanyo Electric (SANYY), which already sell in the low-end market. We therefore maintain our Hold rating on Panasonic.

Read the full analyst report on "PC"
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Read the full analyst report on "SNE"
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Zacks Investment Research

A Bummer of a Summer for the Rich

Bill Bonner — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 20:00:00 +0000

pIt#8217;s a Hard Life to be Rich./p pWe have spent the last few days holding back tears#8230;/p pMichael Jackson! Robert MacNamara!/p pAnd now our heart goes out to Nantucket Island. Word came this morning that the rich are not living it up like they used to. The New York Times reports that it’s the slowest summer on Nantucket locals have ever seen. There are over 600 properties for sale – and none of them are selling. Even at discounts of up to a third off! Restaurants and bars are offering discounts too – anything to lure in the customers./p pHere at the a href="http://www.dailyreckoning.com" class="alinks_links"Daily Reckoning/a, we champion lost causes. We join the diehards. And we take up the banner of despised, persecuted minorities everywhere. So#8230;/p

CIBT Education Group Inc. (MBA) is “One to Watch”

QualityStocks — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 12:42:05 +0000

CIBT Education Group Inc. (AMEX: MBA), an education management and investment company, has its primary focus on the global education market. Through its three subsidiaries, the company possesses a combined operating history of more than a century in China and Canada’s education sectors. CIBT currently owns and operates a network of 45 business and language [...]

MagneGas Cements Previously Announced $1.2 Million Purchase Order With Definitive Agreements

Dawn Van Zant — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 13:00:00 +0000

MagneGas Corporation (OTCBB: MNGA), a producer of a metal cutting fuel and natural gas alternative made from liquid waste, announced today that it has secured signed Asset Purchase and Distribution Agreements for the previously announced $1.2 million equipment purchase order and subsequent launch of the Philippines and Vietnam markets.

Sukuk market to double by year’s end, and new tax laws will help its reach

Jason G. Wulterkens — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 22:28:31 +0000

A Dow Jones report published last week quoted Standard & Poor’s Financial Services as theorizing that the $700 billion global Islamic finance industry would “weather the financial crisis” and moreover would resume its growth on the support of “high demand for Shariah-compliant products, which are considered less risky than convention debt.” While [...]

Surging ‘frontier gauge’ a red flag for risk?

Jason G. Wulterkens — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 15:38:08 +0000

Interesting piece on Bloomberg about how rising frontier markets may indeed signal the death knell for the 2Q global equity rally. Much like a pendulum moving out and then back, the rally may be peaking along with the recent rise by illiquid assets. Think of equities alone as having their own ‘risk curve’; that is [...]

And Then There’s This…Thursday, June 25th, 2009

Contrarian Profits — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 18:49:26 +0000

pGold#8217;s low price for the day came early in Hong Kong trading on Thursday morning. From there, and in fits and starts, the gold price managed to work its way slowly higher later in the Hong Kong afternoon#8230;and into morning trading in London. But the real fireworks didn#8217;t get started until 8:00 a.m. Eastern time#8230;shortly before the Comex opened for trading#8230;and at 9:00 a.m. [sharp], gold was up $15 before the usual not-for-profit seller showed up. After that, every rally attempt got firmly sold off, so that by the end of electronic trading at 5:15 in New York yesterday#8230;gold was only up about six bucks./p pSilver#8217;s moves were even more dramatic#8230;and it was obvious that someone was there to make sure#8230;/p

Thoughts On The New World Order

IndexUniverse Staff — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 08:00:00 +0000

Country classification has gotten really interesting in the past couple of years with the rising interest in emerging and frontier markets. But that's probably just my inner unrepentant nerd talking.

Right now, in the wake of MSCI’s reclassification of Israel as a developed market, I’m working on a rundown of the country classifications of four major index providers: MSCI, Dow Jones, FTSE and Standard & Poor’s.

The evolution of emerging markets (and sometimes devolution of developed markets—see Greece, which could lose developed-market status in the FTSE indexes) is just particularly fascinating to me. Take some of the frontier/emerging markets that the index providers cover at the very bottom rungs of the investability ladder: Latvia? Slovakia? Trinidad & Tobago? Mauritius?

Frankly, I’m dying to know what the investment stories are behind these tiny, tiny markets. And while I believe frontier markets (like, say, Vietnam) offer some awesome investment opportunities, is anyone really itching to sink some funds into an obscure eastern European country that probably has a smaller population than the number of visitors to my local mall on the day after Christmas?

I realize there are different rules and methodologies that each of the index providers use, but it all seems rather mysterious. For example, Dow Jones—which generally uses the International Monetary Fund’s designations—classifies Slovenia as a developed market, while MSCI has it labeled as a frontier market. That’s quite a disparity.

Lately, the majority of the focus has been on Israel and South Korea, though, and whether they will transition to developed-market status within the various classification systems. MSCI, of course, just promoted Israel to developed status last week, while keeping Korea in the emerging category. Given that the majority of internationally invested funds are benchmarked to MSCI indexes (at least in the U.S.), this issue has been followed fairly closely by investors. At the end of March, Israel was the ninth-largest country in the MSCI Emerging Markets Index, with a 4.0% weighting, and South Korea was the fourth-largest, with a 12.4% weighting.

Given the amount of money benchmarked to that index and the even greater amount benchmarked to the MSCI EAFE Index, which Israel now joins, that’s an awful lot of funds shifting around. South Korea is up for reconsideration in 2010 (as is Taiwan, another country straddling the emerging/developed divide).

But MSCI seems to be on the tail end of the trend: Dow Jones, S&P and FTSE all classify South Korea as a developed market, while only Dow Jones and FTSE put Israel into the developed bucket. S&P still has Israel as emerging. Of course, FTSE, S&P and Dow Jones have a lot fewer funds tracking or measured against their global indexes.

They can shift their country classifications with relative ease, as they deem appropriate, without a lot of reverberation. But if MSCI decides to promote a country to developed status, many, many billions of dollars are going to be moving around, with all sorts of economic consequences.

And not all of them will be positive: In Israel, there is concern that the country moving from relatively big-dog status in the emerging markets index to a minor position in the developed markets index will actually result in outflows from the local stock market.

(Read an article on the latest MSCI moves here. Also of interest might be a Bloomberg article on the subject here, and another article from an Israeli publication about a Deutsche Bank study on the potential negative impacts of the switch.)

Teva Pharmaceutical, Israel’s largest company, saw its price spike in June shortly before the official MSCI announcement, but there’s no telling what the longer-term effects will be. It will be interesting to see what happens with that, and even more interesting to compare the outcomes with what happens when South Korea—and its big stock, Samsung Electronics—is finally promoted to developed status.

Yeah, that was definitely the unrepentant nerd talking …

International Observers to Leave Abkhazia

Robert Amsterdam — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 06:30:30 +0000

Russia vetoed a U.N. resolution extending the presence of a U.N. peacekeeping mission in Abkhazia. At issue was the language used to describe the mission. Georgian leaders wanted it to continue to be called the "United Nations Observer Mission in...

Hemispherx Ampligen Combats H5N1

Michael Vlaicu — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 22:58:06 +0000

With the majority of the focus being placed on on the current pending FDA approval regarding (AMEX:HEB) Hemispherx#8217;s Ampligen, StocksHaven Investments would like to shift the focus on the drug#8217;s ability to help treat the potential outbreak of H5N1 (Swine Flu). Overview of H5N1 H5N1 - also called #8220;Influenza A (H5N1) virus#8221; – is an influenza [...]

Heavy Oil Becomes More Appealing As Light, Sweet Crude Runs Out

Byron King — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 20:01:36 +0000

pWhen most people think of oil, they think of light, sweet crude that comes up out of little holes in the ground. You describe oil by its API gravity. For example, oil like Brent crude or West Texas Intermediate has an API gravity of 38-40. The oil that Col. Drake pulled from the ground at Titusville, Pa., in 1859 had API gravity near 60. These types of oil are relatively easy to pump from a reservoir, lift to the surface and transport via pipeline to the refinery./p p style="text-align: center;"strongThe Shift to Heavy Oil, with an “Energy Microsoft” at the Forefront/strong/p pBut a significant portion of the world’s oil is much lower quality than the light, sweet stuff. Indeed, most oil that’s found in#8230;/p

The US is Pushing its Phony Money All Over the World

Bill Bonner — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 20:15:05 +0000

pGM#8217;s Chapter 11 Bankruptcy and the US Governments International relations/p p“You ain’t seen nothin’ yet!”/p pActually, we’ve seen so much already that it’s hard to believe there’s more coming. But there’s sure to be more#8230; and we have a feeling it will be worth the wait./p pYesterday, for example, a href="http://www.google.com/finance?q=GM"GM/a filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. It couldn’t pay its bills. GM was once the strongest corporation on the planet. But it has been around for nearly 100 years. Heck, everything wears out eventually#8230; even a ’55 Chevy./p p“Obama Nationalizes GM,” says a triumphant headline in France’s “La Tribune.”/p pTriumphant?/p pYes. According to the papers, Obama may have been handed the keys to GM#8230; but the old jalopy is worn out. The French say the whole US#8230;/p

FT frontier-related quickies from Wednesday

Jason G. Wulterkens — Thu, 28 May 2009 03:33:58 +0000

Behold the “negative basis trade,” per John Dizard: “You can own a corporate bond, or emerging market sovereign bond, buy default protection on the paper with CDS, and collect interest payments for taking no risk. That’s right: because CDS prices are depressed, relative to the comparable bonds, you can collect money for taking no risk.” Per [...]

And Then There’s This…Tuesday, May 19th, 2009

Contrarian Profits — Tue, 19 May 2009 19:13:16 +0000

pWell, with the US$ down a half a cent, and decent gains in both platinum and palladium, you have to be pretty much brain dead not to have seen the footprints of the Gold Cartel in the gold and silver markets yesterday./p pIt all started the moment that Sydney closed on Monday afternoon#8230;1:00 a.m. Monday in New York. From that point on, only Hong Kong [and the New York Bullion Banks] is a player. As I#8217;ve said before, the New York banks [or their agents] can, and do, enter the markets whenever they want./p pGold sold off about five bucks with a smallish rally starting shortly after 12:00 noon in London. That lasted until the equity markets opened at 9:30 in New#8230;/p

Words from the (investment) wise for the week that was (May 11 – 17, 2009)

Prieur du Plessis — Sun, 17 May 2009 08:32:46 +0000

A long-awaited reversal in the monumental global stock market rally since early March finally arrived last week. “Less bad” economic reports provided investors with little comfort, sparking a reassessment of their risk appetite and leading to profit-taking on most bourses. On the other hand, safe-haven assets attracted buying. Read all about this and the implications for financial markets in the weekly “Words from the Wise” review.

Precious Metals in the Doldrums

Doug Casey — Fri, 15 May 2009 18:25:07 +0000

pGold was rangebound again, all the way from the far East through the Globex on Thursday, stuck between $922 and $928, before finishing a very desultory day at $925.70/oz., down 40 cents. Overnight, gold is little changed. /p pPlatinum also had an all-day emblah/em session, only barely edging out of a $10 range and ending where it started at $1111, down $1. Overnight, platinum is slightly lower./p pSilver hit the skids in Hong Kong, falling as low as $13.70, but then climbed slowly but steadily through London and the Comex session, leveling off on the Globex to close at $14.05, up 9 cents. Overnight, silver is trending lower. (a class="textBold" href="javascript:openCharts();"Click here for charts/a)/p pIt’d be tough to come up with a more uninteresting day’s action#8230;/p

The Six Ways to Play Canada’s Oil Sector

Martin Hutchinson — Wed, 13 May 2009 10:00:06 +0000

By Martin Hutchinson Contributing Editor Money Morning With oil finally trading back above the $50-a-barrel level, it’s time to recognize that crude prices are probably not going to... Money Morning is here to help investors profit han...

SNIPER TRAINING: THE CURE FOR OVER TRADING

David Blair — Mon, 04 May 2009 04:49:39 +0000

One of the trader’s biggest psychological barriers to overcome is over trading. Of course, over trading is relative depending on the type of trader you are and the time frame(s) used to make trading decisions. However, if you have a well formulated trading plan, you will know from past experience when you are walking the [...]

Post from: The CrossHairs Trader

SNIPER TRAINING: THE CURE FOR OVER TRADING

MARKET COMMENT April 29, 2009 Stock markets spiked higher early and added to the momentum after the Fed non-announcement.

David Fry — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 22:15:04 +0000

MARKET COMMENT April 29, 2009 Stock markets spiked higher early and added to the momentum after the Fed non-announcement. However, there was plenty of profit-taking from the highs of the day into the close. Typically a Fed-day yields heavy volume but that wasn#8217;t the case today as volume remained relatively light. Breadth was extremely positive.

Hot IPOs Coming Your Way: Why Innovation Will Lead Our Recovery

Investment U — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 16:33:20 +0000

Hot IPOs Coming Your Way: Why Innovation Will Lead Our Recovery by Louis Basenese, Advisory Panelist Senior Analyst, The Oxford Club Most folks have long since left the IPO market for dead… and it’s no wonder. Scan the financial markets and very little - if anything - is consistently moving in a positive direction. And the latest economic data [...]

Is Kuwaiti-Cambodian partnership good for agri-business?

Jason G. Wulterkens — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 15:52:49 +0000

The Economist notes this week that Kuwait’s foray into Cambodian farmland (its purported compensation for $546m to finance a dam on the Stueng Sen river for irrigation and hydropower and to build a road to the Thai border) can surely be a win-win, even if historically such deals haven’t always worked out and local rice [...]

Thursday’s Market Recap (04/23/09)

Bullish Bankers — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 00:11:09 +0000

The markets were up today, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average was rose 0.89%. The NASDAQ was closed up 0.37% ending the day at 1652.21, while the S&P was up o.99% to close at 851.92. The yield of the 10-year is currently at 2.921% as the price of the treasury rose. Gold and crude contracts were [...]

Vietnam responding to ‘aggressive government stimulus’

Jason G. Wulterkens — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 16:42:31 +0000

The Ho Chi Minh Exchange, which lost two-thirds of its value in 2008 and hit a low this past February, has risen 2% overall since the beginning of the year and 36.6% since late February. Thus, while the market has underperformed Malaysia, which is up 5.3%, it outperformed Thailand, down 2.8%. The government forecasts 5-5.5% [...]

And Then There’s This…Tuesday, April 21st, 2009

Contrarian Profits — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 21:09:02 +0000

pIn early Monday morning trading in Hong Kong, the gold price did a quick re-test of New York#8217;s Friday afternoon#8217;s low and slowly started working its way higher from there. Gold really began moving to the upside the moment that Comex trading began in New York. The price moved higher in fits and starts until 12:45 Eastern, when the top was in. Since then, it’s been basically trading sideways./p pIn silver, the price spiked down the moment that Globex trading began in New York on Sunday evening#8230;and hit a low of $11.73 before recovering to unchanged around $11.90. There it sat until 9:00 a.m. in London trading where it tacked on 20 cents#8230;and from that point, spent the next 22 hours#8230;/p

GTX Corp (GTXO.OB) Has Built a Solid Foundation for its Products

QualityStocks — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 20:09:20 +0000

Since the industrial revolution, imaginative people have been continually creating new technology. The new devices of today often make our lives easier, but only if they work. Most international business travelers have probably faced a situation when their cellular phone or PDA does not work in a certain city or country. Companies can no longer [...]

Roubini Global Economics: How severely will Asia be affected by the global recession?

Prieur du Plessis — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 07:59:55 +0000

"The prognosis for the financial sector of Asia is relatively better compared to other emerging economies and also compared to the experience of the region in 1997-98. Even so, further GDP contractions and asset market corrections are likely as the ext...

Roubini Global Economics: Re-emergence of global protectionism

Prieur du Plessis — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 08:13:58 +0000

This post features Nouriel Roubini's team discussing the re-emergence of global protection, saying: "As governments around the world fight rising unemployment, falling exports and bank credit crunch, and several central banks are facing liquidity traps...

Mobius: Frontier stealing EM thunder

Jason G. Wulterkens — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 17:20:55 +0000

I’m always on the lookout for a good, general take on the state of “frontier markets” as a whole, because as diverse as they are from a political, economic, cultural and demographic standpoint (among others) they do tend to share macroeconomic characteristics in particular that form the foundation for their growing global economic relevance. For instance, [...]

Hutchison Soars on Spin-Off Speculation – Zacks Tale of the Tape

Zacks Market Commentaries — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 21:02:58 +0000

Hutchison Telecommunications International Ltd. (HTX) rose more than 10% today on reports that the company was planning to raise about $256 million from spinning off its Hong Kong telephone business in an initial public offering later this year.

Although the company did not provide much detail on the sale, it is being widely speculated that its Hong Kong and Macau businesses could fetch up to $1.54 billion. The spin-off will also help offset some of the losses made by Hutchison's operations in Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam and Sri Lanka. The company generates most of its revenue from Hong Kong, Macau and Israel.

The Hong Kong-based company's shares were up 35 cents to $3.79 at noon on the New York Stock Exchange.

"HTX" Free Stock Analysis: Buy? Sell? Hold?
Zacks Investment Research

Japan’s Industrial Slump Deepens In January

Edward Hugh — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 17:11:00 +0000

Japan’s exports plunged by 45.7 percent year on year in January, producing a record trade deficit, as recessions in the U.S. and Europe, and a sharp downturn in China crushed demand for the country’s machinery, cars and electronics. A drop of this size is truly staggering. “People are coming to realize that Japan [...]

Decoupling – have the seeds been sown?

Tradesense — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 16:58:00 +0000

The decoupling theory – Asia and Asian markets (sans Japan) decoupling from the rest of the world – keeps surfacing from time to time – specially when the markets in Asia tend to perform better than those of US and Europe. It happened in the first two weeks of February when the [...]

Beacon Equity Research Featured Company: China Energy Recovery Inc. (CGYV.OB)

QualityStocks — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 16:40:04 +0000

China Energy Recovery Inc. is an international leader in energy recovery systems, with a primary focus on the Chinese market. Headquartered in Shanghai, the Company designs, fabricates, implements, and services energy recovery systems. Their technology captures industrial waste energy to produce low cost electrical power. Their system can capture and reuse over 90 percent of [...]

MARKET COMMENT February 19, 2009 The Fryguy usually features many technical charts and today will be no exception.

David Fry — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 01:14:16 +0000

MARKET COMMENT February 19, 2009 The Fryguy usually features many technical charts and today will be no exception. But first let#8217;s listen and view some important and timely fundamental outlooks from our friends at Business Monitor International (London). Greg Newton and I conducted this much anticipated interview yesterday and it#8217;s available in the following YouTube segments. Why all the segments?

The Five Most Promising Emerging Market ETFs for 2009

Money Morning — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 10:00:31 +0000

By Martin Hutchinson Contributing Editor Money Morning If you’re an emerging-markets investor, and you happened to peruse the study that the Institute for International Finance released... Money Morning is here to help investors profit ha...

$8.5 Trillion Bailout

Alex Stanczyk — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 17:20:23 +0000

Wall Street Bailout Exceeds Cost of All US Wars Combined Rock Creek Free Press February 2009 And you can throw in the New Deal, Marshall Plan and Moon Shots as well Casey Research, of Vermont, has analyzed the costs of the government bailouts of the housing crisis, the credit crisis and others and has concluded that the total is [...]

Why Asia Could Be The Best Place To Park Your Money

Irwin Greenstein — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 18:52:50 +0000

pA new labor report by an agency of the United Nations indicates that Asia could be the best place for investors to wait out the global recession. While the report does not indicate abundant opportunities in Asian regions, it does show that Asia could be more resilient and consequentially return potential longer term gains. /p pFor investors in survivor mode, the report may be interpreted as an investment roadmap with a relatively safe course./p pThe report, titled Global Employment Trends, is an annual survey from the International Labour Office (ILO), arm of the U.N that brings together governments, employers and workers to jointly shape policies and programs for fair and humane employment practices./p pBased on new developments in the labor market, the report#8230;/p

The Ticking Bomb in Your Portfolio Is..

Contrarian Profits — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 18:08:21 +0000

tr HIDDEN VALUE /tr tr pDear Value Seeker,/p pIs gold back?/p pThe precious metal suffered heavy losses in the second half of 2008. But it has soared in recent weeks, breaking through the $900-an-ounce barrier yesterday./p pAs 5 Min Forecast editor Addison Wiggin says, #8220;Global investors see metal as the only currency worth holding.#8221;/p pThis from The 5:/p ul pemLooking around the globe today, every major currency is in the crapper #8212; and we#8217;re not the only ones to notice. The euro is being torn apart by once-booming members Ireland and Spain. Nor is Greece helping matters much. Across the channel, the pound is getting leveled by outright fear in the London banking scene. Switzerland and its franc are rapidly losing their safe-haven status. China#8217;s manipulating the yuan, as#8230;/em/p/ul/tr

Labor Laws in China Could Hinder Investors’ Profit Potential

Irwin Greenstein — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 18:15:19 +0000

p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"New labor laws in China have forced the manufacturing sector into an ever-tightening vice, giving investors further pause for any significant rebound in the world’s fastest growing economy./p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" /p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"In January 2008, Beijing introduced new workplace legislation called the Labor Contract Law. Its objective was to ensure job security by making cursory dismissals more difficult. The Labor Contract Law comes in on heels of anti-discrimination labor laws instituted last year, which streamlined the process for workers to file grievances against their employers. /p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" /p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"As a result, labor disputes have surged by approximately 119% since last year as workers exercise their new rights./p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;" /p p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"While the global recession throws a monkey wrench into China’s manufacturing engine, the Labor Contract law could compound the crisis by making#8230;/p

Guest Article: Heaven, Hell, and Happiness by Robert and Emi Kiyosaki

Fred Fuld — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 08:59:00 +0000

span style="font-weight:bold;"Heaven, Hell, and Happiness/spanbr /span style="font-style:italic;"by Emi Kiyosaki and Robert Kiyosaki,/spanbr /Authors of a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1593154933?ie=UTF8tag=antiquestocka-20linkCode=as2camp=1789creative=9325creativeASIN=1593154933"Rich Brother Rich Sister/aimg src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=antiquestocka-20l=as2o=1a=1593154933" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /br /br /Sunday School taught us that heaven was a place in the sky where people sat around, floating on clouds, playing harps. Hell was the flaming center of the earth, where the devil (with horns, a long tail, and carrying a pitchfork) lived, waiting for sinners.br /br /As adults, we do not know if there is a heaven or a hell after death. There are heaven and hell here on earth, and one person's heaven can be another person's hell. A secure job with the government would be our father's heaven, but Robert's hell. Being an entrepreneur is Robert's heaven. For our dad, having to become an entrepreneur at the age of fifty was his hell.br /br /Marriage can be either a heaven or a hell. Even though we may deeply love someone, life together can be a living hell.br /br /Money can be the reason for heaven or hell on earth. Many financial advisors recommend, "Live below your means." They say this because many people are barely surviving -- in a living hell -- using borrowed money to live a lifestyle they cannot afford. For others, heaven is having more than enough money to afford their lifestyle.br /br /Since one's heaven can be another person's hell, the question is, what creates a person's heaven or hell? While there are many possible answers, one answer is happiness . . . or the lack of it.br /br /ROBERT: SELFISH AND UNSELFISH GOALSbr /br /As with so many things in life, for every action there is a reaction. If a person is unhappy, he may do something to make him happy, for example, like drink alcohol. Feeling low, he may go to a bar, drink a lot, and feel happy. The next day, he pays for his happiness with a hangover. Do this on a regular basis and that unhappy person becomes an alcoholic, still in search of happiness.br /br /Others take chemical drugs to escape their pain and unhappiness. According to the Washington Post, today in America, more than one in every one hundred people are in jail, as many as 20 percent, for drug-related issues.br /br /Being in jail is not my idea of heaven. Some people go shopping to relieve the pain. Money is their drug. The more money they have, the more they shop. Rather than finding heaven, they find hell, living under a mountain of credit card debt.br /br /My drug of choice is food. When I am unhappy, I eat. While I'm eating, I feel happy. The problem is, the more I eat, the fatter I become. The fatter I become, the more unhappy I get, so I eat more, become fatter, and become even more unhappy. In my attempt to reach heaven through food, I wind up in hell. Many people seek to solve their unhappiness through religion. Many have so many problems they feel they cannot solve them, and they seek salvation by hoping God will save them from their hell here on earth. br /br /So what is happiness?br /br /I am sure this question will be asked through the ages. And I doubt there is one answer for all people. Like heaven and hell, one person's happiness can be another person's unhappiness, which is why I'm not attempting to tell you what to do to find your happiness. I have enough trouble finding and hanging onto my own true happiness.br /br /One important lesson I learned from Dr. Fuller was the idea of having "unselfish goals." In other words, goals that follow the generalized principle of "the more people I serve, the more effective I become." This idea fit my mother and father's values of being of service to their community. In December of 1984, when Kim and I took our leap of faith, we took the leap with unselfish goals in mind. As I have already said, it was the worst year of our lives.br /br /It was not a happy time.br /br /Today, Kim and I have found happiness by having selfish as well as unselfish goals. Our happiness comes from being of service, feeling that our work makes a difference in people's lives, and that we are contributing to solving some of our world's current problems. We also have selfish goals, goals such as making enough money to create a standard of living that suits us. We would not be happy being poor, working at a job we did not love, working with people we did not like, living below our means in a dangerous neighborhood, not being able to afford health care or the finer things of life.br /br /Work is an important aspect of happiness and unhappiness. Even though our work is often challenging and filled with problems, ultimately our work makes us happy. We realize that, for millions of people, their work makes them unhappy. For millions, work is just about money.br /br /I have a classmate from high school who is very unhappy. Right out of college, she met a rich man, married him, and moved to his large home in Aspen, Colorado. Her husband inherited his wealth and has never really had to work. They have great kids and grandkids. Her days are filled tending to her show horses and doing charity work. Her husband spends his time at his club, putting on events to keep the members happy.br /br /When I asked her why she was unhappy, her answer was simple: "Life seems empty."br /br /When I asked her if her grandkids filled her void she said, "No. I love my kids and grandkids, but I am through with motherhood." When I asked about her charity work, she said frankly, "I do charity work to belong to the right social circles. Charity work is my access to the right charity balls and to be seen with the right people. I know the charities are important, but I am not passionate about the causes."br /br /When I asked her what her soul wanted her to do, she snapped at me and said, "I'm doing enough. I'm good to my kids. I'm a good parent. I'm a good wife. I donate time and money to my charities. What else do you want me to do?"br /br /Our conversation was over. It wasn't the time to get into the differences between selfish and unselfish goals.br /br /One of the most valuable lessons I learned from my mom and dad was the answer to my question, "What is happiness?" The happiest days in their lives were the days they both worked for President Kennedy's Peace Corps. Dad took a break from the education department, and he and Mom spent their days, nights, and weekends working side by side at the Peace Corps training center in Hilo, preparing young people to be of service to the world. As a young man preparing to go to war, I saw the happiness that working together at spiritual work brought my mom and dad. I never forgot that happiness.br /br /When Kim and I took our leap of faith in December of 1984, we were in search of the same happiness. The day we were married, in 1986, we didn't have much money and could not afford a band. Instead we handed out the words to "The Wedding Song" (also known as "There Is Love") by Noel Paul Stookey of Peter, Paul, and Mary. We asked everyone to link arms and sing along with the music. The song conveyed to everyone in the circle the spiritual reason for our marriage, which spread from heart to heart. The following are a few words from this very beautiful song:br /br /Well, a man shall leave his motherbr /and a woman leave her homebr /and they shall travel on to wherebr /The two shall be as one.br /br /As it was in the beginningbr /is now and till the endbr /woman draws her life from manbr /and gives it back again.br /and there is love, and there is love.br /br /Well then what's to be the reasonbr /for becoming man and wife?br /Is it love that brings you herebr /or love that brings you life?br /br /And if loving is the answer,br /then who's the giving for?br /Do you believe in somethingbr /that you've never seen before?br /Oh there is love, there is love.br /br /Kim has been the greatest blessing in my life. We have been together virtually 24/7 since December of 1984. We have been apart only a few days in all those years. Our work nurtures our souls. Our work gives us life. Our work is our life.br /br /Like most couples, we do have our rough spots. It is not always peaches and cream. It's not always wedded bliss or the fairy tale of living happily ever after. Through our work we share our love and our reason for being married. While we receive many blessings from our work, we believe the gift of true happiness is the greatest gift, a blessing that brings magic to life.br /br /There are many people who believe the rich are greedy, and many of them are.Yet, I have met many greedy poor and middle-class people. They are simply greedy people with less money. The rich do not have an exclusive domain over greed.br /br /When we were married, Kim and I co-created selfish and unselfish goals. We set four financial goals, and those goals became the four stepping-stones to guide us through the stream of life:br /The first stepping-stone was to build a business that served as many people as possible. We wanted to serve people regardless of their wealth (or lack of it), race, or religion.br /The second stepping-stone was to invest our money to be of service. The majority of our investment money is in apartment houses. We provide safe, well-managed, affordable housing to thousands of people.br /The third stepping-stone of our finances was to tithe, or give money back. Even when we had very little money, we donated to charitable causes that spoke to our hearts. We do not give money directly to people in need. Instead we give money to responsible organizations that have a proven track record of sound money management.br /The fourth stepping-stone was our personal standard of living. Even though we had nothing when we were married, we still wanted to live financially free, at a rich and wealthy standard of living.br /All four goals required hard work, miles of travel, a lot of study, and often a good bit of disappointment. From the generalized principle of precession, which is the ripple effect, came the gift of true happiness in our lives.br /br /Today, we have more money than we could ever spend. We have more than we need. This is why today we are focusing more and more on giving the money back, just as Bill Gates and Warren Buffett are doing. Giving money back can be a full-time job. Just as making and investing money creates unique challenges, giving money back comes with its own set of challenges. There is an art and science to charitable giving. Again, rather than give the money to the needy and the poor, which would deplete the money supply, we are diligent in finding responsible, well-managed organizations that will protect our wealth and will use the money wisely for years, long after we are gone. br /br /Kim and I believe in working to create heaven on earth -- while we are here and after we have left this earth. We find happiness working together in our life's work, just as working together for the Peace Corps brought true happiness for my mom and dad. Finding happiness by doing our spirit's work is the best gift Mom and Dad havebr /given their children.br /br /This is not to say that our work is uniquely significant, special, or that important. Any work that adds value and is of service to life is important and special. For example, the person who drives a school bus has a very important and special task. I am glad there are people who want to do this job, and I would hope they love what they do.br /br /I especially like comedians, because laughter is vital to a world that so often takes itself too seriously. The gift of laughter is a very important gift.br /br /So what is your gift? When I am asked about how to find one's gift, I simply reply, "If you had all the money in the world, what would you do for the rest of your life? What would make your heart sing?" I also say, "One of the reasons a person does not give or use their gift is because they have been trained to go to school and get a job to earn money. So the question is, What would you do if you did not have to worry about money?"br /br /In 1994, Kim and I had the luxury of retiring. She was thirty-seven and I was forty-seven. I thought retirement would be heaven. Instead it turned out to be hell. All I did was play golf, and if you've seen my golf game you would know why, for me, golf is the game from hell. In 1996 Kim and I developed our CASHFLOW® board game, I wrote Rich Dad Poor Dad, and we got back to work. Our objectives remain the same. We believe that too many people are slaves to money, and one way to financial freedom is via financial education. Our wish is to have you become financially free so you can give more of your God-given gifts and do the work you were born to do.br /br /One of the greatest joys of our work is to have people like you read our work, even if you do not agree with everything we write. I know the world is filled with people with great ideas, great stories to tell, and great gifts to give.br /br /The above is an excerpt from the book a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1593154933?ie=UTF8tag=antiquestocka-20linkCode=as2camp=1789creative=9325creativeASIN=1593154933"Rich Brother Rich Sister/aimg src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=antiquestocka-20l=as2o=1a=1593154933" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" / (Published by Vanguard Press; 978-159315-493-6). The above excerpt is a digitally scanned reproduction of text from print. Although this excerpt has been proofread, occasional errors may appear due to the scanning process. Please refer to the finished book for accuracy.br /br /Copyright © 2008 Emi Kiyosaki and Robert Kiyosakibr /Reprinted with permission of the publicistbr /br /Author Biobr /Robert Kiyosaki, co-author of a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1593154933?ie=UTF8tag=antiquestocka-20linkCode=as2camp=1789creative=9325creativeASIN=1593154933"Rich Brother Rich Sister/aimg src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=antiquestocka-20l=as2o=1a=1593154933" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" / (Published by Vanguard Press; 978-159315-493-6), is a fourth-generation Japanese American, born and raised in Hawaii. After graduating from the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in New York, Robert joined the Marine Corps and served in Vietnam as an officer and helicopter gunship pilot. Following the war, Robert went to work in sales for the Xerox Corporation and, in 1977, started a company that brought the first nylon and Velcro “surfer” wallets to market. He founded an international education company in 1985 that taught business and investing to tens of thousands of students throughout the world. In 1994 Robert sold his business and, through his investments, was able to retire at the age of 47. During his short-lived retirement, he wrote the international best-selling book a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0446677450?ie=UTF8tag=antiquestocka-20linkCode=as2camp=1789creative=9325creativeASIN=0446677450"Rich Dad, Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money--That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not!/aimg src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=antiquestocka-20l=as2o=1a=0446677450" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /, and in 2006 coauthored with Donald Trump a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/193391405X?ie=UTF8tag=antiquestocka-20linkCode=as2camp=1789creative=9325creativeASIN=193391405X"Why We Want You to Be Rich: Two Men - One Message/aimg src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=antiquestocka-20l=as2o=1a=193391405X" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /. An entrepreneur, teacher, and investor, Robert also writes a monthly column, "Why the Rich Are Getting Richer," for Yahoo! Finance, and a monthly column, "Rich Returns," for Entrepreneur magazine.br /br /Barbara Emi Kiyosaki, co-author of a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1593154933?ie=UTF8tag=antiquestocka-20linkCode=as2camp=1789creative=9325creativeASIN=1593154933"Rich Brother Rich Sister/aimg src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=antiquestocka-20l=as2o=1a=1593154933" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" / (Published by Vanguard Press; 978-159315-493-6), grew up in Hawaii with Robert and the Kiyosaki family. While Robert took the path of war during the Vietnam era, Emi took the path of peace, exploring alternative and spiritual journeys. Emi began her studies at the University of Hawaii and then traveled to Colorado, Alaska, and India to deepen her studies and practice of Buddhism. Emi was ordained by His Holiness the Dalai Lama in 1985 and today is known by her ordination name, Bhikshuni Tenzin Kacho. For six years, Tenzin was the Buddhist chaplain at the United States Air Force Academy. She has a Master of Arts degree in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism and Tibetan Language from Naropa University. She is the assistant spiritual director and teacher at Thubten Dhargye Ling Buddhist Center in Long Beach, California, and is a visiting teacher at Thubten Shedrup Ling in Colorado Springs. She occasionally resides at Geden Choling Nunnery in northern India. Tenzin also works as a hospice chaplain in Los Angeles, California.div class="blogger-post-footer"div class='adsense' style='text-align:center; padding: 0px 3px 0.5em 3px;' script type="text/javascript"!-- google_ad_client="ca-pub-2427831169011625"; google_ad_width=300; google_ad_height=250; google_ad_format="300x250_as"; google_ad_type="text"; google_ad_channel ="8681602088"; google_color_border="FFF3DB"; google_color_bg="FFF3DB"; google_color_link="1B0431"; google_color_url="1B0431"; google_color_text="29303B"; //--/script script type="text/javascript" src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js" /script /div

China Energy Recovery Inc. (CGYV.OB) is “One to Watch”

QualityStocks — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 21:53:42 +0000

Nettel Holdings Inc. (NTTL.PK) is “One to Watch”

QualityStocks — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 21:56:46 +0000

Headquartered in Longview, Washington, Nettel Holdings Corporation is a holding company owning subsidiaries engaged in diverse business activities. Their mission is to produce successful subsidiaries that are financially viable and freestanding. Their main subsidiaries are in telecommunications and software. Founded in 1999, the Company’s subsidiaries work to develop new and innovative technologies. Nettel Holdings focuses on [...]

Dong losing its ding against the dollar

Jason G. Wulterkens — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 02:56:40 +0000

Vietnam’s central bank will gradually widen the band in which the country’s currency is allowed to trade against the U.S. dollar, Pham Huu Phuong, head of the central bank’s representative office in Ho Chi Minh City, told a state run newspaper on Thursday. The dong is presently allowed to trade against the dollar within [...]

Elixir Gaming Technologies Inc. (EGT) is “One to Watch”

QualityStocks — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 22:27:45 +0000

Trading on the American Stock Exchange (AMEX), Elixir Gaming Technologies Inc. provides turnkey gaming solutions to venue owners. They work with their major shareholder Elixir International who is part of the Melco Group. Elixir Gaming’s main business is the placement of gaming machines on a revenue share model in three, four and five star resorts, [...]

Have We Learned Nothing?

Contrarian Profits — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 17:28:47 +0000

pWe pause this morning, while the rest of the world contemplates Mr. Madoff’s Ponzi scheme and this week’s pending machinations of the Fed and OPEC, to ponder matters geopolitical. There’s something extremely telling about the reaction to the reporter who flung his shoes at That Lame Duck in the White House. And it doesn’t bode well for the next four years under the new president./p pSomething significant was missing from the main account of the incident, be it from the a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5j057jBReERcsF-FcZRSWe0h1gaXQD9535UK80"Associated Press/a or a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE4BE3F620081215"Reuters/a./p pBut McClatchy Newspapers (its pitiful financial state notwithstanding) got the real story. “Friends said Zaidi covered the U.S. bombing of Baghdad’s Sadr City area earlier this year and had been ‘emotionally influenced’ by the destruction he’d seen,” says its#8230;/p

Capstone Turbine Corp. (CPST) Signs New Distribution Agreement for Asia Pacific Region

QualityStocks — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 16:27:15 +0000

Today, Capstone Turbine Corp. announced that it has inked a new distribution agreement with Sobono Energy Private Limited for Combined Heat & Power (CHP) and Resource Recovery applications in Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Guam and Saipan. With headquarters in Singapore, Sobono Energy provides green, renewable energy solutions to customers in the Asia Pacific [...]

Emergent BioSolutions, Inc. – Momentum – Zacks Rank Buy

Michael Vodicka — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 00:00:00 +0000

Emergent BioSolutions, Inc. (EBS) is aggressively growing its earnings, recently reporting impressive third-quarter results that marked big gains from the previous year. Analysts are very bullish on the company, with the next-year estimate projecting 100% earnings growth.

Company Description

Emergent BioSolutions, Inc. is a bio-pharmaceutical company that develops and manufactures immunobiotics in the U.S., U.K. and Vietnam. The company operates in two divisions, biodefense and commercial, and has a market cap of $677 million.

Third-Quarter Results

Emergent BioSolutions reported excellent third-quarter results on Nov 6 that were far ahead of analyst estimates. Revenue came in at $56.6 million, a 30% increase from last year. Net income totaled $10.4 million, a big jump from income of $2.8 million last year. This produced earnings of 35 cents per share, blowing past analyst estimates of 17 cents.

The company said its solid showing was driven by sales of its anthrax vaccine BioThrax, which climbed 55% from last year to $55.5 million. The jump came mostly from a 34% increase in the average sales price per dose.

Debt and Liquidity

Emergent said that at the end of the quarter it had $104.7 million in cash and cash equivalents, providing the company with a financial cushion to buffer against economic and market volatility.

Guidance and Estimates

After the solid quarter, Emergent went ahead and boosted its earnings estimates. Net income is projected to fall between $21 and $25 million, with earnings projected between 70 and 83 cents.

The analyst community is bullish on the company as well, with the next-year estimate pegged at $1.46 per share, a 100% earnings growth projection.

The Chart

Shares of EBS have been on a nice rally since early October, bottoming out just above $11 and recently topping off just shy of $26. Moving forward, this company will need to produce robust earnings to support more share appreciation due to higher valuations. Take a look at the chart below.

"EBS" Free Stock Analysis: Buy? Sell? Hold?
Zacks Investment Research

Guess Which 4 Currencies Are on the Chopping Block in 2009?

Contrarian Profits — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 11:36:19 +0000

tr HIDDEN VALUE /tr tr pDear Value Seeker,/p pYesterday, the “Big Three” automakers came to Washington with a plan: ask for even more money./p pGM wants $18 billion, with $4 billion for December’s bills./p pChrysler says it needs $7 billion in the next few months./p pFord is after $9 billion#8230;but only as a precaution. It feels pretty confident it can make it without help./p pAfter all, Ford’s sales fell only 31% year-over-year in November. GM and Chrysler both saw sales for the same period tumble by over 40%./p pIn exchange for $34 billion in taxpayer money, the automakers promised major restructuring, reduced labor costs (that’s right, it’s promising to fire employees in return for taxpayer backing) and the sale of some product lines./p pThe CEOs even said they would even#8230;/p/tr

Will Dollar Lose Global Reserve Currency Status?

Sean Maher — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 10:07:00 +0000

div align="justify"The system of quasi-fixed exchange rates that dates back to the Nixon era, and which itself was an evolution of the gold standard span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"Bretton/span Woods regime agreed in 1944 (which couldn't survive the 1960's spike in Vietnam war inspired US inflation), has become unsustainable. In the original gold standard regime (fixed exchange at $35 for an ounce), the capacity of the US to issue dollars to the world was strictly limited, as was the capacity to run up deficits. A key factor driving financial crises is extreme trade imbalances between nations; debt gets accumulated partly as a result of financing a trade deficit. For smaller countries, a vicious spiral can ensue which ends in recourse to the IMF. In 1944, the US was the world's biggest creditor, and imposed a system that placed the whole burden of maintaining the balance of trade on deficit nations; there would be no limits on the trade surplus that exporters could accumulate. The entire post-war economic infrastructure, including the World Bank and the IMF dates from this conference, and is now crumbling in the face of a sudden reversal of historic trade and savings imbalances. /divdiv align="justify"emstrongThe US would long ago have had to make dramatic economic adjustments had it not been for the dollar's special status as the world's reserve currency/strong/em, in which commodities are priced and in which foreign countries have to hold currency balances at the IMF. China, which for all the media hype barely makes it into the top 100 countries by GDP per span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1"capita/span, emstronghas been hugely subsidizing US borrowing and consumption./strong/em The trade surplus countries have had to buy over $5 trillion dollars in US bonds in recent years to stop their currencies (China, the Gulf States and 40 other countries have dollar linked currencies) rising. emstrongThis had the effect of inflating the recent US credit bubble by artificially forcing down bond yields; this whole mess has at its root an excess of savings and mercantilist growth policies in Asia/strong/em. China is now in economic meltdown, as a growth model based on chronically unproductive span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2"over-investment/span and marginally profitable manufactured exports begins to unravel, as I warned it would back in March and repeatedly since. emstrongThe World Bank's latest China Quarterly makes sobering reading/strong/em, and can be downloaded a href="http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTCHINA/Resources/Quarterly_December_2008.pdf"span style="color:#cc0000;"here/span/a. The near collapse of the global banking system this year is the culmination of a series of dangerous imbalances that have build up over many years, notably consumer leverage levels reaching 350% of GDP in the US. /divdiv align="justify"Goldman estimates that the emstrongUS private sector’s financial balances (private borrowing net of private investment) will reverse from a deficit of 4% of GDP in 2005 to a surplus of around 10% of GDP at the end of 2009/strong/em span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3"ie/span the US private sector will go from being a net borrower to a big net saver. At the same time the current account deficit will swing from a 5-6% deficit to balance or even small surplus. I've long argued that US consumer demand will tumble by 6-7% points of GDP and revert to long term averages after the boom of recent years; the best policy can achieve is to make the process orderly. The implications for trade surplus countries in Asia are grim. The global span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4"liquidity/span engine, whereby China and the oil-exporters provide (subsidized) financing to the US to sustain its trade deficit and their exports, will come shuddering to a halt in coming months. emstrongThe chart below indicates how a boycott by foreign central banks of US Agency Debt (Fannie and Freddie) this Summer precipitated the crisis at those institutions and forced the Treasury to nationalize them. /strong/ememstrongIf that boycott were repeated for US bonds in general, this crisis would enter a new and destructive phase/strong/em; quantitative easing (or essentially money printing span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5"ie/span liquidity creation unsterilized by matching T-bill or bond issuance) has begun in the US already. This is exactly what I predicted a couple of months ago in a href="http://deadcatsbouncing.blogspot.com/2008/10/those-fed-helicopters-are-hovering.html"span style="color:#cc0000;"Deflation: Those Fed Helicopters are Hovering/span/a. /divdiv align="justify"emstrongTotal credit extended by the Fed has surged from an average of $885 billion in the week ending August 27 to $2.2 trillion in the week ending November 12./strong/em The volume of reserve balances with the Fed, which had jumped from $8 billion at end Aug to $280 billion by mid Oct, has now surged again to a stunning $592 billion in the week ending Nov 12. emstrongThe Fed, fearing Japanese style debt deflation, is now frantically increasing the quantity of money in the US economy/strong/em to stimulate growth and eminflation,/em via injecting excess liquidity into the banking system. This is an understandable but dangerous strategy; the only other country to attempt it was Japan from 2001-6, but in a very different domestic savings/funding and global growth context. emstrongI suspect that we get deflation as the predominant concern through the beginning of a cyclical recovery in 2010/11, but then inflation surges, driven not only by wanton money supply growth but also demographic decline hitting the labour market and a structural resource crunch exacerbated by the credit crisis./strong/em So what new currency regime might emerge? The Europeans are pushing for a managed currency system with capital controls to replace the current largely floating, market based, regime (and a tax on span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6"forex/span transactions), but emstrongany new architecture will realistically be designed by China and the US, and would squeeze Europe out of institutions like the IMF/strong/em. /divdiv align="justify"In return for giving up its dollar peg, China would want serious economic influence at international institutions as a quid pro span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7"quo/span. Some economists, including several recent Fed governors, argue for a currency regime linked explicitly to commodity prices. Paul Volcker, who has a key role in the new administration, recently stated: /divdiv align="justify"em'Once we moved off gold, we entered a world of so-called fiat currencies. In that world, there’s nothing behind money except the credibility of the government and of the central banks...you span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8"shouldn/span’t set up full employment in opposition to stable currency, but the stable currency domestically is important to building a base for prosperity over the long run/em.' /divdiv align="justify"Wise words, but politics trumps sensible long term economics every time. Perhaps the most likely outcome of a looming instability crisis is emstrongthat smaller countries will huddle together for safety in a series of regional currency blocs, from the Middle East to Asia, including an expanded span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9"Eurozone/span comprising countries like Denmark and even the UK/strong/em (which economically and politically is now closer to meeting 'convergence criteria' than ever before). This would further diminish the relative importance of the dollar, and increase the difficulty of funding US structural fiscal deficits running at 8-10% of GDP without hugely higher yields (despite rising domestic private savings). On this view, current US bond yields look span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10"unsustainably/span low.br //divdiv align="justify"/divimg id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5273304259504512498" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 273px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_9QbROiDNh6Y/SS6KSOxSHfI/AAAAAAAAAPs/r9NZCtUr5pk/s400/sept-tic-2.png" border="0" /br /br /div align="justify"/divdiv class="feedflare" a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/DeadCatsBouncingMusingsOnTheMarkets?a=23tVN"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/DeadCatsBouncingMusingsOnTheMarkets?i=23tVN" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/DeadCatsBouncingMusingsOnTheMarkets?a=TEfDN"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/DeadCatsBouncingMusingsOnTheMarkets?i=TEfDN" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/DeadCatsBouncingMusingsOnTheMarkets?a=QaXLN"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/DeadCatsBouncingMusingsOnTheMarkets?i=QaXLN" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/DeadCatsBouncingMusingsOnTheMarkets?a=C32WN"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/DeadCatsBouncingMusingsOnTheMarkets?i=C32WN" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/DeadCatsBouncingMusingsOnTheMarkets?a=PBpdn"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/DeadCatsBouncingMusingsOnTheMarkets?i=PBpdn" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/DeadCatsBouncingMusingsOnTheMarkets?a=Hiw7n"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/DeadCatsBouncingMusingsOnTheMarkets?i=Hiw7n" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/DeadCatsBouncingMusingsOnTheMarkets?a=PwkxN"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/DeadCatsBouncingMusingsOnTheMarkets?i=PwkxN" border="0"/img/a /divimg src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/DeadCatsBouncingMusingsOnTheMarkets/~4/468244436" height="1" width="1"/

Charles Kirk Interviews Jeff Miller, A Dash of Insight

Jeffrey Miller — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 17:10:46 +0000

Jeff is traveling, so we are republishing his recent interview from the Kirk Report, one of our featured sources. The Kirk Report is an excellent investor resource, with many specific stock ideas for members. Charles Kirk also reads very widely and provides regular links to articles we might otherwise have missed. [...]

Free Trade Will Help Latin America Weather Crisis

Sara Nunnally — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 12:45:41 +0000

pDuring the Great Depression, a spike in protectionism deepened the global crisis for many countries. strongSara Nunnally /strongsays greater co-operation between Asian and Latin American states should prevent a similar mistake being made this year. It should also help keep some of these nations out of recession./p pThis from a href="http://www.taipanpublishing.com" class="alinks_links"Taipan/a#8217;s Emerging Markets blog:/p blockquotepMembers of a href="http://www.apec.org/" target="_blank"APEC, Asian-Pacific Economic Cooperation,/a ended their annual summits today in Lima, Peru. One of the main topics, besides the economic crisis, was free trade./p p(By the way, APEC consists of a href="http://www.apec.org/apec/member_economies.html" target="_blank"member economies/a like China, Vietnam, the U.S., Canada, Russia, Peru, and Chile, among others.)/p pFree trade is a hot topic right now, with the dreaded “P” word floating about: protectionism. a href="http://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/protectionism.asp" target="_blank"Protectionism/a is when governments restrict or restrain international trade. Most times the#8230;/p/blockquote

Global Investing Roundups, Tuesday, November 25th, 2008

Contrarian Profits — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 15:41:04 +0000

pExisting Home Sales Down 3.1%; Chile’s 3Q GDP Beat Forecast; SunPower Finishes 18-Megawatt Plant; Cnooc Pushing to Develop More Oil Sites; Alpharma Gets Kinged; Xerox On Track; Oil Jumps 9%; /p ul type="disc" liSales of existing homes fell 3.1% in October, a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE4AN45720081124" target="_blank"the lowest drop in four years/a, strongemReuters/em/strong reported. Over the past year, medium home prices also declined 11.3% to $183,300, the biggest percentage drop since the National Association of Realtors began keeping records in 1968./li /ul ul type="disc" liChile’s gross domestic product beat forecasts and grew 4.8% in the third quarter. Domestic demand was strong, as was energy output. “These figures surprised the market and showed that the a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601086#38;sid=aEmfZ.hOxE1o#38;refer=latin_america" target="_blank"Chilean economy is surprisingly resistant/a to a rapid deceleration,” Juan Pablo Castro, an economist at stronga href="http://finance.google.com/finance?q=SAO:SANB3" target="_blank"Banco Santander SA/a/strong in Santiago, told#8230;/li/ul

Calculating Gross Margin for Apple’s iPhone (4Q08)

Turley Muller — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 02:57:00 +0000

span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"APPLE INC (nasd:AAPL) /spanAccording to my calculations, deferred revenue booked from Q4 iPhone sales carries a 55.5% gross margin. Gross margin on the deferred revenue (DR) booked from the first generation model averages about 29%. The average gross margin for total booked DR is 47.8%.br /br /I derived this number from the “deferred expense under subscription accounting“ that Apple disclosed in its annual filing (10-K) in conjunction with the deferred revenue (under subscription accounting) also reported. I used some rather extensive math to come up with the 55.5% number which I discuss below.br /br /Apple’s ”Non-GAAP“ figures it provided for Q4 implies that 3G iPhone GM was 47.8%. According to the 10-K, GM for iPhone deferred revenue not yet recognized in income is also 47.8%. Coincidence? Not likely. Since the deferred revenue carried on the balance sheet includes both the original and 3G models, that GM should differ from the GM implied by Q4 Non-GAAP numbers that solely comprise of 3G unit sales. We know that the GM on the 3G model is much higher than the first model.br /br /So why is the GM according to Apple’s Non-GAAP figures the same as the GM derived from the 10-K? Apple included estimated future warranty expenses in the adjusted cost-of-goods sold (COGS), which inflates Non-GAAP COGS and understates GM. The amount of estimated expense is at Apple’s discretion. In my opinion, Apple overstated the Non-GAAP COGS adjustment for the sake of conservatism, but also to obscure the true iPhone GM. Normally, under GAAP accounting (subscription), Apple recognizes iPhone warranty expenses as incurred. However, Apple added its estimates for future warranty liability into the COGS adjustment, and I believe management was very conservative.br /br /The gross margin on the iPhones sold in Q4 that will be recognized over the coming seven quarters is 55.5%. There will be some warranty expense incurred, yet I expect it to be relatively small. It’s likely that most of the warranty liability is incurred during the period sold. If a unit is defective, the problem usually surfaces shortly after it’s purchased.br /br /I estimate the normalized gross margin is even higher, possibly north of 60%. Thus, iPhones sold in 1Q09 and beyond will carry higher GMs, assuming ASPs remain constant. iPhone GMs for Q4 were abnormally compressed due to elevated shipping costs, adapter recall, and other various expenses related to the global introduction of the new 3G model.br /br /span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"Gross Margin- Non-GAAP Reported Q4:/spanbr /For the first time, Apple provided adjusted figures showing the actual iPhone sales/income earned in the quarter. Until Q4, Apple always gave the GAAP numbers that uses subscription accounting for iPhone sales. Instead of recognizing the actual revenue earned for the quarter, it is spread over 24 months and amortized on a straight-line basis. Using normal accounting methods, total revenue would have been 3.787B higher, or 11.682B. Cost of goods sold (COGS) increases 1.975B to 7.161B. Overall gross margins improve from 34.7% (GAAP) to 39.0%, which equates to a 47.8% GM for the iPhone adjustment ([revenue adjustment - COGS adjustment] / revenue adjustment).br /br /However, the 47.8% figure is not the true iPhone GM. First, the adjustments include AppleTV sales, yet that amount is believed to be quite small relative to the iPhone, thus the effect is probably very minimal. Second, and most important, is that Apple included the estimated warranty costs for over its full life in the COGS adjustment.br /br /a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kaO6aTrkklM/SSIvJioQOtI/AAAAAAAAAcE/Op6fBhoIlNk/s1600-h/iPhone+DR-1.png"img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 382px; height: 189px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_kaO6aTrkklM/SSIvJioQOtI/AAAAAAAAAcE/Op6fBhoIlNk/s400/iPhone+DR-1.png" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5269826354937871058" //adivspan class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"br //span/divdivspan class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"iPhone Gross Margin- Deferred Revenue/Costs Reported in 10-K:/spanbr /Without knowing the amount of deferred iPhone cost booked in a quarter, it’s impossible to calculate iPhone gross margins. Apple’s quarterly filings discloses the iPhone portion of deferred revenue which is reported was a liability on the balance sheet, but Apple never broke out the iPhone related deferred costs that is included in an asset account. The actual amount of iphone revenue earned in a quarter can be determined by adding the change in DR account (+) the amount of iPhone revenue recognized in income. To find the actual product costs, we need the change in deferred costs. In its annual filing, Apple disclosed the amount of iPhone related deferred cost on the books at the end of Q4, but we don’t know the Q3 number.br /br /Using the DR amp; DC at year-end, an average GM (of all iPhone sales) can be found. At year-end, Apple had $5.78B in DR and $3.02B in DC on its books, which translates into a 47.8% gross margin for all the iPhone sales still be amortized. Since Apple gives the figures for current (less than 1yr) and long-term accounts, we can gain additional insight into iPhone margins. For the iPhone sales that will be recognized within a year, the average GM is 45.1%, and for the non-current portion, the GM is 51.9%.br /br /The reason for the 7% difference is due to 3G sales, which carries a much higher margin than the original iPhone. Almost all the non-current DR amp; DC is related to the 3G, since iPhones sold in 4Q07 amp; 1Q08 have moved from the non-current to current bucket. Only a small portion of Q2 sales would be left in non-current, and Q3 sales were low, thus the figures classified as non-current are almost entirely associated with 3G sales. The actual percentage of 3G models can be estimated from the change in DR from Q/Q compared to the actual ending balance. Current DR increased 2.129B to 3.518B, which means 60.5% of current DR is from 3G. Long-term DR increased 1.63B to 2.62B, but the actual amount of 3G classified as non-current is higher because of the portion of legacy iPhone revenue recognized for the quarter. I estimate that 320M of DR was recognized in Q4. Roughly 86% of non-current DR is from 3G sales./divdivbr /a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_kaO6aTrkklM/SSIvJZt36tI/AAAAAAAAAb8/9g6fmmObZ6Y/s1600-h/iPhone+DR-2.png"img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 102px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_kaO6aTrkklM/SSIvJZt36tI/AAAAAAAAAb8/9g6fmmObZ6Y/s400/iPhone+DR-2.png" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5269826352545524434" //a/divdivbr /span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"Actual 3G iPhone Gross Margin Calculation/span:br /With the figures for (1) average GM for both current and long-term [45.1% / 51.9%], and (2) the percentage of units which are 3Gs for both classifications [61% / 86%], I solved for the “true” 3G iPhone gross margin by setting up 3 simultaneous equations. The goal is to find the GM number (for both the 3G units and the legacy units) that produces the same combined gross margin for all three classifications (current, non-current, total). As I mentioned above, I solved for the percentages or “weights” of each model represented in the amount of deferred revenue reported on Apple’s balance sheet. Using those weights, the solution I found was 3G gross margin of 55.1% and 29.2% GM for the original model units. When the 3G amp; legacy gross margins are multiplied by the percentage weights for all three classifications (Total, Current, Non-Current), the products equal the same gross margin extracted from Apple’s 10-K.br //divdivbr //divdiva onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kaO6aTrkklM/SSIvJJ_HevI/AAAAAAAAAb0/7orngn0ia8A/s1600-h/iPhone+DR-3.png"img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 330px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_kaO6aTrkklM/SSIvJJ_HevI/AAAAAAAAAb0/7orngn0ia8A/s400/iPhone+DR-3.png" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5269826348322880242" //abr //divbr /(1) Total deferred: 47.8(all)= .71(MGN[3G]) + .21(MGN[2.5G])br /(2) Current Deferred: 45.1(all) = .61(MGN[3G]) + .39(MGN[2.5G])br /(3) Non-Current Deferred: 51.9(all) = .86(MGN[3G]) + .14(MGN[2.5G])br /br /span style="font-weight:bold;"Conclusion:/spanbr /If my math is correct, the gross margin on the DR booked from 3G iPhones sold in Q4 (Sep 08) is 55.5%. This means over the next seven quarters, Q4 iPhone sales that will be recognized in current earnings contribute 55.5% GM. Yet, gross margins on units sold going forward will materially exceed the 55.5% generated on Q4 sales.br /br /The rationale for thinking the normalized GM will be higher is due to excess product expense related to the roll-out. Shipping costs were abnormally inflated due to pressures created by supply shortages. The elevated expenses were due to more shipments of smaller lot sizes expedited at quicker delivery times. In short, distribution costs weren’t optimized, yet it’s better to spend a little more to make a sale, than to try to contain costs and forego a sale. For example, iPhones ordered through ATamp;T direct fulfillment were being delivered individually by FedEx. In addition, Apple stores were receiving smaller shipments but more frequently, on an as-needed basis, so that some stores don’t get too much stock leaving others short. Now that demand and supply factors are in balance, Apple is able to reduce distribution expense by shipping larger lot amounts, less regularly at non-expedited speeds.br /br /Another item inflating product costs was the power adapter recall. Not only does this cause material costs to increase, shipping and packaging costs were likely unfavorably impacted as well.br /br /Going forward, I foresee rising margins resulting from efficiency gains in distribution along with lower product costs resulting from falling component prices and scale benefits. Another item of note, the end of September Apple began selling unlocked iPhones online to Hong-Kong for roughly $685/$799 (free shipping). These prices are quite higher than what Apple receives on other iPhone sales. It’s possible that Apple can do decent volume through the Hong-Kong channel given the propensity for iPhones to find their way into grey markets, such as China, Thailand, Vietnam and others. It’s interesting that Apple decided to sell unlocked, open carrier iPhones only to Hong-Kong which makes one wonder if this is a direct response to the stubbornness of Chinese carriers.br /br /Massive iPhone margins provide Apple with the ability to reduce selling price and still earn a generous profit. Apple has a key advantage over other mobile handset makers that don’t have nearly as high GMs. I expect Apple to eventually lower iPhone prices, but given the iPhone’s superior value proposition, a price cut shouldn’t be needed for some time. However, that doesn’t preclude Apple from doing so just to make competitors life difficult.br /br /Apple could use the colossal iPhone margins to subsidize price reductions on other products if needed. Given the difficult economic environment, this is a very beneficial arrow for Apple to have in its quiver to draw upon.div class="feedflare" a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/FinancialAlchemist?a=5QNVN"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/FinancialAlchemist?i=5QNVN" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/FinancialAlchemist?a=mqWKN"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/FinancialAlchemist?i=mqWKN" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/FinancialAlchemist?a=nhihN"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/FinancialAlchemist?i=nhihN" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/FinancialAlchemist?a=2SfcN"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/FinancialAlchemist?i=2SfcN" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/FinancialAlchemist?a=gPVkn"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/FinancialAlchemist?i=gPVkn" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/FinancialAlchemist?a=Yixcn"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/FinancialAlchemist?i=Yixcn" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/FinancialAlchemist?a=BuJXn"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/FinancialAlchemist?i=BuJXn" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/FinancialAlchemist?a=poJwN"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/FinancialAlchemist?i=poJwN" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/FinancialAlchemist?a=1zoYN"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/FinancialAlchemist?i=1zoYN" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/FinancialAlchemist?a=1zoYN"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/FinancialAlchemist?i=1zoYN" border="0"/img/a /divimg src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/FinancialAlchemist/~4/466564442" height="1" width="1"/

New Islamic Index Launches For SE Asian Markets

IndexUniverse Staff — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 20:08:37 +0000

The only licensee so far for the DJIM ASEAN is by a traditional equity fund manager, Malaysia-based Corston-Smith Asset Management.

Dow Jones Indexes launched the Dow Jones Islamic Market ASEAN Index on Monday, the first index to cover Shari'ah-compliant companies in six of the 10 member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN): Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

The DJIM ASEAN Index will serve as the basis for exchange-traded funds and other investment products. Islamic nations in the Middle East and in Southeast Asia are ramping up efforts to develop their local ETF marketplaces.

Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore, four of the six countries covered by the new index, have already taken baby steps into ETF waters.

At the end of the third quarter, Singapore had five ETFs; Malaysia had three, Thailand had two, and Indonesia had one ETF portfolio, according to Barclays Global Investors' ETF Research and Implementation Strategy Team.

Among the four SE Asian nation's nascent ETF markets, there was a total of less than $1.5 billion invested in the ETFs, BGI data indicated.

iShares has a series of Shari'ah-compliant ETFs for the U.K., based on MSCI benchmarks. Deutsche Bank's x-trackers ETF family also listed in July three ETFs based on Standard & Poor's Shari'ah indexes, adding to its existing Dow Jones Islamic Market Titans 100 Index ETF.

The only licensee so far for the DJIM ASEAN is by a traditional equity fund manager, Malaysia-based Corston-Smith Asset Management.

The DJIM ASEAN Index is weighted by free-float market capitalization and includes 284 components. The top five components by float-adjusted market capitalization are Thailand-based oil and gas company PTT PCL; Malaysian industrial goods and services company Sime Darby; Singapore Airlines; Singapore Telecommunications; and Indonesia telecommunications firm Telekomunikasi Indonesia. The index is calculated in U.S. dollars and reviewed quarterly.

There are currently more than 75 investment product licensees with more than $7 billion in assets benchmarked to the Dow Jones Islamic Market Indexes.

When in Ruthenia . . .

Robert Amsterdam — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 17:33:39 +0000

Recent stories about Russian passports being distributed in Crimea, Ukraine have raised quite a ruckus. But that doesn't seem to be the only place in the Ukraine with some ethnic nationalism issues, and a new report we've translated from Izvestiya after the jump tells the story of Moscow's possible assistance to the Ruthenians - a fiercely independent group located in Transcarpathia, the western-most Oblast of the country, near the Polish, Slovakian, Hungarian, and Romanian borders. For centuries, the region was part of the Austro-Hungarian empire and known as Subcarpathia. (Everything depends on where you’re looking from: if your vantage point is Vienna or Budapest, the region is in the foothills “below” the Carpathian mountains, hence “Subcarpathia”. But if you’re looking from Moscow or Kiev, it’s on the “other side” of the mountains, hence “Transcarpathia”!) After World War I, it became an autonomous region in the very east of the newly-formed country of Czecho-Slovakia. And then, after the Red Army had “liberated” it in the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945), Stalin decided to keep the region for himself and attached it to Ukraine. The local inhabitants are known as the Rusyn; Ruthenian is a Latinized version of the word. The Ruthenians have never had an independent state of their own, but, as mentioned above, did enjoy a measure of autonomy in the inter-war period. With the collapse of the Soviet Union, some Ruthenians had hoped for autonomous status within Ukraine, but this did not happen. For a small, nearly unknown nationality, the Ruthenians have certainly left their mark on the world. Many came to the US and Canada during the big immigration waves from Eastern Europe in the decades preceding World War I. A very large part settled in Pennsylvania and worked in the coal mines and steel mills. Their descendants include Andy Warhol, the actors Tom Selleck, Robert Urich, and Sandy Dee, U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge, comic book illustrator Steve Ditko (co-creator of Spiderman), jazz pianist Bill Evans, and the inventor of the LED, Nick Holonyak. The highly acclaimed 1978 Vietnam war movie The Deer Hunter is about Ruthenian-Americans in Pennsylvania.

When in Ruthenia . . .

Robert Amsterdam — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 17:33:39 +0000