Apple Bonds: 'Market Is Going to Be All Over It'

Apple Bonds: 'Market Is Going to Be All Over It': ""The market is going to be all over it," said Todd Duvick, corporate credit analyst at Stifel Nicolaus. "It's a name that everyone follows and they're comfortable with. From a credit perspective it's going to be a good diversification name for a lot of accounts.""

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China Affair With Cheap Diamonds Heats Mass Market: Commodities - Bloomberg

China Affair With Cheap Diamonds Heats Mass Market: Commodities - Bloomberg: "As demand grows for lower quality goods, the prices rise and the cost gap between them and the next price point closes. This can encourage shoppers to step up to the next level of quality -- until the price gap widens again.
“Traditionally, it was quality, and in particular clarity, that was the most important consideration, now it’s much more of a mixed bag,” said Gemdax’s Aggarwal. “People have latched on to the fact that when you buy a lower quality diamond there is not always a big difference in appearance. There is however, a big difference in price.”"

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‘China’s Buffett’ Going Green: What are his top picks ?

‘China’s Buffett’ Going Green: What are his top picks ?:

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Sneak peek at upcoming Capital Development - Channel NewsAsia

Sneak peek at upcoming Capital Development - Channel NewsAsia: "Pua Seck Guan, director of Capitol Investment Holdings and chairman of Perennial China Retail Trust said: "We believe this location is very hard to come by today. If you were to buy land in the city, I think land prices would be in the excess of S$1,500 on a per plot basis. Plus construction costs, it would cost about S$3,000 psf. Today our selling price is at S$3,000 psf for that kind of quality because we bought our land at an attractive price in the old days."

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TOP BRANDS IN CHINA? Ask The Top Search Engine...

TOP BRANDS IN CHINA? Ask The Top Search Engine...: "But Shenzhen-based hybrid automaker BYD Co (HK: 1211; SZA: 002594) was the big story, maintaining its top spot for the fourth consecutive quarter in the mass auto market as far as Baidu search tallies are concerned."

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China's Gift Crackdown Not Hitting Luxury Cars: Porsche

China's Gift Crackdown Not Hitting Luxury Cars: Porsche: ""I don't see that there is a massive turnaround all of a sudden, that people will walk away from that," Hennig said. "There's too much wealth being generated in China at this point in time for people not to have an interest in vehicles. Vehicles are a fun part of life and many people aspire to aspirational brands.""

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Gamblers Not So Anonymous: Beijing Keeps Closer Eye on Macau

Gamblers Not So Anonymous: Beijing Keeps Closer Eye on Macau: "Rather than signalling a crackdown on Macau's lucrative gambling industry, casino executives say the target is those Chinese officials using public money or pledging state assets to gamble - money that could otherwise be invested in businesses.

For example, Yang Kun, a vice president at Agricultural Bank of China , owed Macau casinos 3 billion yuan ($490 million) in gambling debts, while local media have reported former high-flying politician Bo Xilai laundered money through Macau. There has been no official ruling on either case."

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Singapore Faces Choppy Recovery: Central Bank

Singapore Faces Choppy Recovery: Central Bank: ""Critically, the expected recovery is contingent on relatively sanguine conditions in the advanced economies," the MAS said. "This is not a foregone conclusion, as a severe negative shock in the developed countries would quickly reverberate through the global trade and financial channels.""

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Why This Apple Analyst ‘Chickened Out’ of Buying a Samsung

Why This Apple Analyst ‘Chickened Out’ of Buying a Samsung:

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@ ANWELL’S AGM: New factory to open up solar markets

@ ANWELL’S AGM: New factory to open up solar markets:

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China's Big Dilemma — Currency Reform

China's Big Dilemma — Currency Reform: ""It's difficult to make the currency manipulation argument," said Zhang Zhiwei, chief China economist for Nomura Securities in Hong Kong. "There are a lot of things that central bankers are doing nowadays that are not really regarded as best practice; we are in uncharted waters these days and everything is relative.""

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Gold Bears Defy Rally as Goldman Closes Short Wager: Commodities - Bloomberg

Gold Bears Defy Rally as Goldman Closes Short Wager: Commodities - Bloomberg:

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China Industrial Companies’ Profit Growth Slows as Economy Cools - Bloomberg

China Industrial Companies’ Profit Growth Slows as Economy Cools - Bloomberg: "Net income increased 5.3 percent from a year earlier to 464.9 billion yuan ($75 billion), down from a 17.2 percent pace in the first two months, the National Bureau of Statistics said on its website yesterday. Profit in the first quarter rose 12.1 percent to 1.17 trillion yuan, it said.
China’s stocks fell for a third straight month in April amid investor concern that the recovery in the country’s economic expansion is losing momentum and will hurt corporate earnings. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index (SHCOMP) closed 1 percent lower on April 26, the last trading day before a three- day holiday ending May 1.
“Profits are only growing in line with sales and with problems of overcapacity and the sluggish global picture, it doesn’t bode well for a speedy return to higher profit margins,” said Louis Kuijs, chief China economist at Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc in Hong Kong. “Heavy industries especially still face destocking and higher costs, but if there is a silver lining, industries catering to the consumer, like textiles, food and beverages, seem to be doing much better.”"

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Inspiring Words/Deeds (Hey buddy, life is not all about money)

Inspiring Words/Deeds (Hey buddy, life is not all about money): "Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn’t matter to me … Going to bed at night saying we’ve done something wonderful… that’s what matters to me.” – Wikiquote, as quoted in The Wall Street Journal (Summer 1993).

“I was worth over $1,000,000 when I was 23, and over $10,000,000 when I was 24, and over $100,000,000 when I was 25, and it wasn’t that important because I never did it for the money.”
“We don’t get a chance to do that many things, and every one should be really excellent. Because this is our life. Life is brief, and then you die, you know? And we’ve all chosen to do this with our lives. So it better be damn good. It better be worth it.” – Fortune"

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China's Warren Buffett: I'm Just His 'Apprentice'

China's Warren Buffett: I'm Just His 'Apprentice': "Guo says he does follow Buffett's investment path and has even increased his holdings in the insurance sector in which Berkshire Hathaway has considerable holdings, "hoping to utilize the capital base from the insurance businesses to improve our investment capacity in the future," like Buffet does."

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'Red Obsession': How China Is Transforming the Bordeaux Market

'Red Obsession': How China Is Transforming the Bordeaux Market: "The Bordeaux Index peaked at 150 in June 2011. Like many market bubbles, the wine bubble burst and prices have since retreated, with cases of Lafite declining in price by as much as 40 percent. "

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China Factory Profit Surges 12% in First Quarter

China Factory Profit Surges 12% in First Quarter: "China's industrial profits grew 12.1 percent in the first quarter this year from a year ago, official data showed on Saturday.

Chinese industrial firms made total profits of 1.17 trillion yuan ($189.78 billion) in the first three months, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said in a statement on its website (www.stats.gov.cn)."

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China Credit Bubble Trouble: Chanos

China Credit Bubble Trouble: Chanos: ""New credit outstanding jumped by $1 trillion U.S." he said, adding that China's economy was equivalent to $8 trillion in U.S. dollar terms. "So, on an annualized rate, that's 50 percent of GDP, new credit creation.

"To put that in perspective, the total new credit globally went up by a trillion and a half in the first quarter. China was $1 trillion of that, yet it's only 10 percent of the world economy."

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Tesla Model S Tops GM Volt in North American Plug-In Race - Bloomberg

Tesla Model S Tops GM Volt in North American Plug-In Race - Bloomberg: "Any success for a company in this space is helpful for all other makers of plug-in vehicles,” said Jim Cain, a spokesman for Detroit-based GM. “The single most important thing we can do for plug-ins, to encourage sales, is to have them on the road.”"

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BUFFETT & BLACK GOLD: Which China Shares To Benefit?

BUFFETT & BLACK GOLD: Which China Shares To Benefit?: "Shandong Molong Petroleum Machinery (SZA: 002490) has already seen robust order book activity for shale oil business in the US market.

The Shenzhen-listed firm is a domestic powerhouse in drilling equipment, especially oil jacket tubes.

Kingdream (SZA: 000852) is the world’s No.3 play in oilfield drillhead and drillbore manufacturing and is tops in Asia, with its products expected to be in high demand amid the expected shale oil boom in North America.

Management says its orders from US drillers have seen continuous increases and it is very bullish on market potential.

Jereh (SZA: 002353) is also a major competitor in the drilling equipment sector and touts itself as China’s most technologically advanced bore maker.
"

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‘China’s Nasdaq’ Soars To 2-year High

‘China’s Nasdaq’ Soars To 2-year High: "Shenzhen-based BYD Co Ltd (SZA: 002594; HK: 1211), dual-listed on both Shenzhen’s A-share main board and in Hong Kong, is China’s top hybrid and fully-electric automaker and could potentially be a major downstream buyer of neighboring Sunwoda’s batteries.
"

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Warning! Stocks to Crash, Gold to Top $10,000: Albert Edwards

Warning! Stocks to Crash, Gold to Top $10,000: Albert Edwards:

'via Blog this' Gold corrected 47 percent from 1974-1976, before rising more than eight times to $887 per ounce in 1980. A steep correction is normal before the parabolic move…Holding gold is a bet against central banks competency and given their track record that is certainly a bet I'd be happy to still take," he said.

There’s ‘Persistent Demand’ for Stocks: BlackRock CEO

There’s ‘Persistent Demand’ for Stocks: BlackRock CEO:

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Perennial Real Estate forms consortium for mixed development in Beijing - Channel NewsAsia

Perennial Real Estate forms consortium for mixed development in Beijing - Channel NewsAsia:

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There’s ‘Persistent Demand’ for Stocks: BlackRock CEO

There’s ‘Persistent Demand’ for Stocks: BlackRock CEO: ""We saw a persistent demand for equities," he said, adding that a major institutional client put another $1 billion into stocks Monday. "Clients will continue to be in equities.""

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Scary Pattern Could Be Forming on S&P 500 Chart

Scary Pattern Could Be Forming on S&P 500 Chart: ""The bears are hanging their hat on the idea that this bounce back will lead to a lower high, potentially a right shoulder that continues in the 1575 area," said Redler"

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China Brands Hurt by Plate Auctions to Foreign Benefit - Bloomberg

China Brands Hurt by Plate Auctions to Foreign Benefit - Bloomberg:

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Gold Drop Spurs Demand From Indian Bazaar to Chinese Mall - Bloomberg

Gold Drop Spurs Demand From Indian Bazaar to Chinese Mall - Bloomberg: "We are buying gold after two years, and we will buy some more if prices fall further,” Yogender Gyan, 29, "

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'Abenomics' Gamble: How to Tell If It's Paying Off

'Abenomics' Gamble: How to Tell If It's Paying Off: "The question is whether Abenomics will lead to increased competitiveness of the Japanese economy instead of just feeding consumption and helping certain sectors such as construction. Erosion of competitiveness, that's a worry.""

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Shorts Getting Longer as Stock Market Bears Throw In the Towel

Shorts Getting Longer as Stock Market Bears Throw In the Towel: "The shorts are definitely covering on this recent rally," said Ryan Detrick, senior technical strategist at Schaeffer's Investment Research. "That would be a sign that some of the big potential buying pressure is out of the way. But we're not ready to throw in the towel yet.""

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Can China Turn 'Economy on Steroids' to Real Growth?

Can China Turn 'Economy on Steroids' to Real Growth?: "The recovery has been largely government-driven, and has been underpinned by property froth and rampant shadow finance. The challenge still centers around stressed corporate balance sheets and a pervasive local government bailout culture. This is not a healthy recovery," said Alistair Thornton, senior China economist at financial analysis firm IHS."

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'Abenomics' Gamble: How to Tell If It's Paying Off

'Abenomics' Gamble: How to Tell If It's Paying Off:

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High-Rollers From China Make Singapore Casinos See Red

High-Rollers From China Make Singapore Casinos See Red: ""I have made all reasonable efforts and used all due means in my power to serve the court documents on the defendant, but have not been able to do so," the Macau lawyer said in the documents."

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Pimco's Bill Gross: Beware of 'Monetary Red Bull'

Pimco's Bill Gross: Beware of 'Monetary Red Bull': "The massive amounts of liquidity being pumped into markets by global central banks amount to "monetary Red Bull," and investors should fear what comes after the rush, bond investor Bill Gross told CNBC on Monday."

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TREK 2000 in "advanced stages of exploring tie-ups with strategic partners"

TREK 2000 in "advanced stages of exploring tie-ups with strategic partners": "While sales of our FluCard® continue to increase year-onyear, our FY2012 performance was adversely affected by three unanticipated factors:

• Our topline performance was less-than-ideal due to a 6.7% decrease in revenue to US$80.4 million mainly due to lower contributions from original equipment manufacturing sales.

• We had a design flaw in one of our ASIC chip projects and this resulted in one-time write-offs of US$1.63 million in inventory and US$1.0 million in development expenses. The design flaw has since been rectified.

• As part of our risk management review of our Intellectual Property and intangible assets and in the light of rapid technological changes, we considered it prudent to record a US$4.1 million impairment of these assets.

As such, we reported net loss after tax of US$5.1 million for FY2012 versus a profit of US$2.0 million previously. To increase our resilience against the volatile operating environment, we continue to emphasize on strengthening our cashflow and balance sheet."

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Eight Takes On A-Shares

Eight Takes On A-Shares:

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TREK 2000 in "advanced stages of exploring tie-ups with strategic partners"

TREK 2000 in "advanced stages of exploring tie-ups with strategic partners":

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COMTEC SOLAR: 2012 Shipments Surge 153%

COMTEC SOLAR: 2012 Shipments Surge 153%: "“During the year, worldwide excess capacity and industry consolidation continued, driving down selling prices across the value chain. These challenging commercial conditions adversely affected the operating results of every solar company."

"Despite the market challenges, we still achieved year-on-year shipment growth, shifted focus to our premium ‘Super Mono Wafer’ products, achieved reasonable profit margins, generated cash inflow from operating activities and maintained a healthy financial position,” said Comtec Solar Chairman and CEO John Zhang.

Speaking at a results briefing for investors at the office of Aries Consulting in Hong Kong, Mr. Zhang added that the Shanghai-based solar products firm was set to turn things around given its strong market position in a very competitive industry.

“We are not the only wafer and ingot maker, but we do enjoy technological advantages in the market and high-quality production that act as formidable entry barriers to would-be competitors.”
Comtec was gaining in efficiency in terms of its capacity utilization, as annualized production capacity last year stood at 600MW while overall shipments surged nearly 153% to 561.7MW.

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BYD AUTO: Finally Charged For Sustained Ride?

BYD AUTO: Finally Charged For Sustained Ride?:

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BYD Most Efficient Automaker; Big Banks Assessed

BYD Most Efficient Automaker; Big Banks Assessed: "Morgan Stanley: BYD Most Fuel Efficient PRC Carmaker
"

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Yen Selling May Become an 'Avalanche,' Soros Says

Yen Selling May Become an 'Avalanche,' Soros Says: ""What Japan is doing is actually quite dangerous because they are doing it after 25 years of just simply accumulating deficits and not getting the economy going," Soros told CNBC's Bernie Lo on the sidelines of a conference by the Institute for New Economic Thinking in Hong Kong.
"So if what they are doing gets something started, they may not be able to stop it. If the yen starts to fall, which it has done, and people in Japan realize that it is liable to continue, and want to put their money abroad, then the fall may become like an avalanche," Soros added."

"Everybody knows there is a property bubble that needs to be deflated, but I think the government also knows it and has the resources to do it. It won't end in a crash," Soros said

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'I'm Guilty Too' Says Mobius of Common Investor Pitfall

'I'm Guilty Too' Says Mobius of Common Investor Pitfall: "At this point, he said the Asian markets are not that concerned about the provocations coming out of North Korea. "The element of surprise is not there yet. So if anything is going to happen, it'll happen after the story dies and North Korea will do something." He did say the reaction of the United States to the threat is worth watching.

As for Europe, he called the situation in Cyprus "unbelievable" and damaging to the confidence across the Eurozone. But he said the "Euro will survive—will get over this—after many policy mistakes." He said he would stick with investing in the eastern European countries, which will be aided even more by the eventual rising tides across the continent."

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China flows again for Hyflux By Michelle Teo

It has taken many months, but Hyflux finally has some good news from its business development efforts in China. On April 4, the company said it has signed two memoranda of understanding (MOUs) to explore collaborations with two prefectural governments in Yunnan province. Among the projects covered in the MOUs are the high-tech water recycling and wastewater treatment plants in the cities of Chuxiong and Qujing. The total investment value is estimated to be about RMB 2 billion ($400 million) and RMB 1.2 billion respectively. “This is a welcome pickup in order momentum for Hyflux in China,” notes Citigroup analysts Patrick Yau and Goh Aik Joon. “Since 2009, Hyflux has recorded a decline in revenue from China. Last year, Hyflux in China had only an $88 million organic expansion project that raised the capacity of six (Galaxy Spring) wastewater treatment plants by 100,000 cubic metres.” Should Hyflux secure the Chinese projects, worth about US$516 million ($640 million), it could offer a 22% boost to its overall orderbook of $2.9 billion, Citigroup adds. Hyflux’s engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) orderbook currently stands at less than $1 billion, by the analysts’ estimates. To be sure, Hyflux has had a bumpy couple of years following record earnings in FY2010. The company had, for a time, decided to focus its business development efforts away from China after establishing a presence there, as it sought out much bigger and more lucrative desalination water projects in the dry deserts of the Middle East and North Africa region. Of course, the ‘Arab Spring’ uprising put paid to those plans, and while Hyflux already had its water plants in Algeria, it had to give up hope of securing an even bigger and better project in Libya. Consequently, the company largely flew under investors’ radar for much of 2012, only announcing the $420 million Dahej desalination project in India and the $1.05 billion desalination plant in Tuas, Singapore. This was in stark contrast to the heady days a few years earlier when a flurry of contract announcements made sure Hyflux and its founder Olivia Lum were in the spotlight, and the company was worth some $2 billion in market capitalisation. Today, Hyflux is trading at about half of what it was in the early part of 2008. But it has a strong portfolio of multi-region projects under its belt, and has an edge in its own high-tech water treatment services. Indeed, analysts speculate that the Yunnan projects, if secured, would likely be undertaken by Hyflux’s Chinese partners using Hyflux’s proprietary technology. And, fortunately, industry observers say the water sector is looking up again. “The outlook has also improved in parts of the Middle East as desalination projects are coming back to the market, with Hyflux sharing that there are now more project tenders as conditions normalise, albeit within a more competitive environment,” Citigroup says. This means Hyflux runs the risk of failing to secure new water projects, amid keener competition not least from the rash of Chinese water companies in the market. Citigroup also cites risks from project execution problems, as well as a shortage of buyers to off-take its projects available for divestment. The Yunnan MOUs are not expected to have any tangible financial impact at least for this year and for now, it seems both investors and analysts are undecided about Hyflux’s prospects. Its stock did not move after the announcement, closing on Apr 5 at $1.415, and apart from Citigroup’s ‘buy’ and Credit Suisse’s ‘outperform’ recommendations, the other houses are advocating holds on the stock. Nevertheless, Citigroup expects Hyflux’s stock valuations to rerate as its orderbook momentum recovers. The bank has a target price of $1.62 It has taken many months, but Hyflux finally has some good news from its business development efforts in China. On April 4, the company said it has signed two memoranda of understanding (MOUs) to explore collaborations with two prefectural governments in Yunnan province. Among the projects covered in the MOUs are the high-tech water recycling and wastewater treatment plants in the cities of Chuxiong and Qujing. The total investment value is estimated to be about RMB 2 billion ($400 million) and RMB 1.2 billion respectively. “This is a welcome pickup in order momentum for Hyflux in China,” notes Citigroup analysts Patrick Yau and Goh Aik Joon. “Since 2009, Hyflux has recorded a decline in revenue from China. Last year, Hyflux in China had only an $88 million organic expansion project that raised the capacity of six (Galaxy Spring) wastewater treatment plants by 100,000 cubic metres.” Should Hyflux secure the Chinese projects, worth about US$516 million ($640 million), it could offer a 22% boost to its overall orderbook of $2.9 billion, Citigroup adds. Hyflux’s engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) orderbook currently stands at less than $1 billion, by the analysts’ estimates. To be sure, Hyflux has had a bumpy couple of years following record earnings in FY2010. The company had, for a time, decided to focus its business development efforts away from China after establishing a presence there, as it sought out much bigger and more lucrative desalination water projects in the dry deserts of the Middle East and North Africa region. Of course, the ‘Arab Spring’ uprising put paid to those plans, and while Hyflux already had its water plants in Algeria, it had to give up hope of securing an even bigger and better project in Libya. Consequently, the company largely flew under investors’ radar for much of 2012, only announcing the $420 million Dahej desalination project in India and the $1.05 billion desalination plant in Tuas, Singapore. This was in stark contrast to the heady days a few years earlier when a flurry of contract announcements made sure Hyflux and its founder Olivia Lum were in the spotlight, and the company was worth some $2 billion in market capitalisation. Today, Hyflux is trading at about half of what it was in the early part of 2008. But it has a strong portfolio of multi-region projects under its belt, and has an edge in its own high-tech water treatment services. Indeed, analysts speculate that the Yunnan projects, if secured, would likely be undertaken by Hyflux’s Chinese partners using Hyflux’s proprietary technology. And, fortunately, industry observers say the water sector is looking up again. “The outlook has also improved in parts of the Middle East as desalination projects are coming back to the market, with Hyflux sharing that there are now more project tenders as conditions normalise, albeit within a more competitive environment,” Citigroup says. This means Hyflux runs the risk of failing to secure new water projects, amid keener competition not least from the rash of Chinese water companies in the market. Citigroup also cites risks from project execution problems, as well as a shortage of buyers to off-take its projects available for divestment. The Yunnan MOUs are not expected to have any tangible financial impact at least for this year and for now, it seems both investors and analysts are undecided about Hyflux’s prospects. Its stock did not move after the announcement, closing on Apr 5 at $1.415, and apart from Citigroup’s ‘buy’ and Credit Suisse’s ‘outperform’ recommendations, the other houses are advocating holds on the stock. Nevertheless, Citigroup expects Hyflux’s stock valuations to rerate as its orderbook momentum recovers. The bank has a target price of $1.62