VICTORY FOR LEWISHAM HOSPITAL CAMPAIGNERS!

Great news! Press release from today "UNISON, the UK’s largest health union, today welcomed the High Court decision that Jeremy Hunt acted unlawfully in deciding that casualty and maternity services at Lewisham Hospital should be downgraded.

Dave Prentis, General Secretary of UNISON, said: “Today’s decision is a victory for all the local people who turned out time and time again to protect services at Lewisham Hospital. The High Court rightly ruled that the health secretary acted unlawfully in riding roughshod over the wishes of the community and that is a lesson that the Government ignores at its peril

“This decision will give heart to health campaigners across the country where other hospitals may be threatened by Government plans to close or downgrade much valued health services.”

The BBC reports that the challenge had been brought about by Save Lewisham Hospital and the London Borough of Lewisham and quotes Labour Mayor, Sir Steve Bullock, that "justice had been delivered to a hospital well-managed, highly-respected and financially solvent".

Hat tip Nicole Minet

Scholarships for Accredited Schools in Montana

Scholarships for accredited schools, and accredited degree programs in Montana certainly exist. In fact, traditional Montana scholarship sponsors require that scholarship recipients must attend or anticipate on attending an accredited school, college, or university in Montana. Another qualification by some scholarship sponsors is that students seeking Montana scholarships should know something about the history of Montana. As a general rule of thumb, the greater the value the Montana scholarship then more is expected of the Montana scholarship recipient.

Scholarship Quiz Questions for Montana Scholarships destined for accredited Montana Schools

The obvious question for persons seeking scholarships, grants, and financial-aid to attend one of the many accredited schools in the state of Montana is: What must I know to qualify for a scholarship, grant, or financial-aid?

Persons seeking scholarships for the purposes of attending an accredited school or college in Montana should know that many scholarship sponsors have different requirements, and altogether different scholarship applications. However, if a scholarship applicant is seeking scholarships, grants, or financial-aid sponsored by National Academy of American Scholars then the scholarship applicant should know at least the basic historical and founding facts surrounding Montana.

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For example, Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller “island ranges” are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges that are part of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state’s name, derived from the Spanish word montaña (mountain). Montana has several nicknames, none official, including: “Big Sky Country” and “The Treasure State”, and slogans that include “Land of the Shining Mountains” and more recently, “The Last Best Place”.

Why are scholarships for accredited schools in Montana needed?

Montana scholarships are needed for accredited schools and universities in Montana because the Montana Department of Education is focused on education, and students should be rewarded for attending an accredited vs. a non-accredited school. By sponsoring scholarships, and grants for students attending accredited schools in Montana, we support the belief that every student matters. Also, a high-proportion of Montana moms, Montana , mothers, Montana women, and high-school graduates, as well as a large proportion of Montana working adults pursue some form of higher education.

We sponsor Montana scholarships for Montana moms, women, working adults, and students. Nearly all of these moms, women, working adults, and students rely upon accredited Montana scholarships, grants, and financial-aid. Montana colleges and universities have experienced consistent year-over-year growth in enrollment, as well as a notorious habit of raising tuition each year. Unlike some states with lower educational standards, and a high proportion of students who drop out of schools, Montana is a state with stringent educational standards, and high expectations. Also, Montana has many quality school districts. Students whom plan on attending any of the quality universities in Montana like Montana University, or Montana State University, will need scholarships to attend such accredited schools or programs.

One of the best possible resources for moms, women, single moms, and adults seeking scholarships, grants, and financial-aid for accredited colleges or accredited universities is the website of National Academy of American Scholarships. We encourage adult students, moms, women, and single mothers to explore these financial-aid options for scholarships, as well other Montana scholarships that are not listed but may be accessed by visiting our Montana Scholarships pages:

For a detailed continuation of this article, and numerous sources of renewable High-paying Montana scholarships, official State of Montana Pell Grants, Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (SEOG), and various other official Montana Grant programs, and private sources of Montana scholarships, grants, and financial-aid, please visit our Montana Scholarships page:

The Relevance of Ratings Agencies

Do people still look at rating agencies "wonderful recommendations"? To put yesterday's market into perspective, the KLCI lost about 1% while Nikkei lost 1.4% ... did Japan go through a downgrade too? Rating agencies nowadays only affirm what the market already knows. But just to be fair to them, we will fall a bit in sympathy.

Truth be told, foreign funds held a lot of Malaysian bonds and last month they were already exiting based on the turmoil in funds being pulled back. The ringgit did not fall just over night, it was weakening for the past few weeks.

The Malaysian ringgit closed slightly higher at RM3.2455 against the US dollar and RM2.5529 against the Singapore dollar today. The local currency slipped to historic three-year lows of RM3.2934 against the greenback and 15-year-low of RM2.5862 against the Singapore dollar yesterday on fears of capital outflows from bond transactions.

The ringgit has dropped 2.7 percent since June 30 to RM3.2463 per dollar, a loss second only to India’s rupee among 23 other emerging-market currencies. The decline pushed the ringgit beyond the limits of the Bollinger band, signaling a reversal may be imminent, data compiled by news agency, Bloomberg said today, adding that was the biggest deviation in developing markets. Stochastic oscillators also showed the ringgit is oversold.

The ringgit’s 5.2 percent loss this year would be its worst annual performance since a 35 percent plunge in 1997, during the Asian financial crisis. It closed at RM3.2379 to the US dollar yesterday in Kuala Lumpur, the weakest level since July 2010.

Yet we are not denying that there is a problem with our deficit. There is. We need to implement the GST but that seemed to be delayed pending the outcome of another mini election end of the year.

Bloomberg reported today that Morgan Stanley has predicted that Malaysia’s economic growth and current account surplus which is more than twice China’s relative to gross domestic product, will help the ringgit catch up with regional peers.

The central bank can use its US$138 billion war chest to prop up the ringgit, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch. The GDP is forecast to grow 5 percent this year, after a 5.6 percent gain in 2012, the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of 21 analysts shows.

The ringgit could underperform as US$2.9 billion of sovereign notes mature today, raising the prospect of capital outflows. The currency slid this month on concern global investors, who owned 33 percent of Malaysian government bonds in May, the highest proportion in Southeast Asia, will pull funds out as the U.S. outlines plans to rein in monetary stimulus. 

Malaysia’s debt-to-GDP ratio of 53.5 percent is higher than the 25 percent in Indonesia, 51 percent in the Phillippines and 43 percent in Thailand. It is also approaching the government’s 55 percent threshold.

While Malaysia’s current-account surplus will narrow to 6 percent of GDP this year, from 6.1 percent in 2012 and 12 percent in 2011, it is higher than the average 2.8 percent in Asian countries and 2.4 percent for China.

Malaysia’s “fundamentals of a current-account surplus and sustained growth should warrant a correction in the recent weakness in the ringgit,” according to a July 25 report from Morgan Stanley analysts. Bank of America strategists including Christy Tan recommended their clients use options to buy the ringgit, saying the central bank will sell foreign reserves to shore up the currency should the decline worsen.

Will this derail the active local equity market? My view is no. The current run is not that dependent on the influx of foreign funds. There has been a willingness for local investors to parlay liquidity to stocks as they take money off the property side. 

How Labour will work with business to build a better economy for the future

This week, Ed Miliband met business people from across the country at a Labour business event, during which he set out how One Nation Labour will work with business to build a better economy for the future.

We want to reform financial services so that banks, including regional banks, work for business, rather than businesses working for the banks.

Labour has told the banks they have between

Betting on a recovery?

Will the economy recover? This is something that analyst and retail investors alike have been specualting. There has been much discussions on the ending of QE in the US and this means that the low interest rate environment will end soon. It also means that the US federal reserve is predicting that the global economy will recover and QE is no longer needed. To know more about QE, read my previous post: Quantitative Easing - how it affects the economy and the stock market?

Whether the stock market continues to rise or fall will depend on the economy. If the economy recovers, companies will have higher profits and higher profits most of the time lead to higher stock prices. Investors who bought in early expecting a recovery are still waiting for that day to come. The Stock market has been rather flat this year after the correction in June which wiped out most of the gains in the first few months of 2013. REITS which had generated rather high yields for investors over the past 2 years had either declined or remained stagnant at the top with limited upside. Some investors have sold off reits to profit on the returns. Read: why reits are on a downward fall again?

I'm also betting on an economic recovery. I'm slowly buying into cyclical stocks like shipping and looking at construction companies. Food industries are on my list of investments too which I favour more on companies owning restaurants. What if I'm wrong and the economy doesn't recover? I think it will be even better if stocks fall lower so I can buy them at an even lower value. I do not have all my money in the stock market now. Still have another tranche ready to deploy if circumstances changes.

This post is written while I'm travelling back home on the mrt. Its good that we've living in an age where we can access to the internet everywhere. Information is always on our finger tips. This is made possible by mobile network technologies like the 3G and 4G LTE.This was not possible many years ago. Till then, invest safely and profitably. :)

P.S: My blog has achieved slightly more than 10000 page views since i started actively blogging 1.5 months ago in June. Thank you to all my readers for your support and comments. It has been a great journey thus far. Do let me know if there's anything I can improve on my blog.

Remember to subscribe to my blog to receive new updates of blog post from me by entering your email address at the top right side bar of my blog. :)

Thank you for supporting SG Young Investment

S&M Show Podcast

Topics: SONA-W vs CLIQ-W; Jaguh Kampungs, the Malaysian listed companies' reluctance to go regional or global.
http://www.bfm.my/snm-show.html
http://www.bfm.my/podcast.html

Song Pick: The Rainbow Connection by Kermit the Frog

Market Weakness Brought On By Fitch's Downgrade

To me, its a "tell me something we don't already know". It is a knee jerk thingee, if ringgit weakens some more, our exporters will love Fitch even more.

Maybank Investment Bank has this hot off the press research op:

Fitch downgraded Malaysia's sovereign credit rating outlook to "negative" from "stable", although the existing high investment-grade ratings of "A-" on long-term foreign debt and "A" on long-term local debt are maintained.  It cited - and we quote - "that prospects for budgetary reform and fiscal consolidation to address weaknesses in the public finances have worsened since the government's weak showing in the May 2013 general elections".
 
This comes as no surprise to us.  Some of our clients may recall from previous presentations / meetings - especially those who raised to me the issue of / question on Malaysia's fiscal deficit and govt debt - that I mentioned the risk of the big-3 rating agencies - Moody's, S&P, Fitch - starting to at least downgrade our sovereign credit rating outlook to "negative" from "stable" after the 13th General Election (GE13) if there is no clear indications from the Government on fiscal reforms regarding subsidies (subsidy rationalisation programme suspended since mid-2011), taxes (GST deferred since the most recent plan to introduce in 2007) and government spending (there was another request for extra spending of over MYR12b by the Government via supplementary budget earlier this month).
 
Equity market down, RM/USD weakens, 10-Yr Govt bond yield rise.  FBMKLCI started the day further in the red.  RM/USD decisively breaks past 3.20 level, approaching 3.25 level early today.  10-year sovereign bond yield is closing on 4% mark.  The above rating news probably add to the cautious-to-weak sentiment in the financial and currency markets, ahead of the FOMC meeting this evening, squaring/clearing of positions before next week's long holidays for local festivity, and amid Malaysia's deteriorating trade / current account balance.  
 
S&P next?  We are also made to understand that the S&P team will be in Malaysia in September 2013 for the rating review exercise.
 
Government will be under pressure to act.  We now expect Budget 2014 to be unveiled at the Parliement on 25 Oct 2013 to provide clarity on the fiscal policy issues and direction.  For that matter, we now expect for there to be at least a modest adjustment in fuel prices before end of this year as a start to show commitment and political will to undertake fiscal reforms, to be followed by potential revisions in other energy subsidies (gas, electricity) early next year.  However, the introduction of GST is not expected in 2014, but more of a 2015 story.
 

Here, Now, Before, Used To ... The Temporariness Of Life

This posting by Tom Hussey reveals so much about so many things. The main takeaway for me is not just to look at someone and not give due what he/she has been through.

Reflections: Portraits of the Elderly as They Once Were

My eye recently got pulled towards “Reflections”. A photo series by Tom Hussey, where he portrays the elderly as they reflect on their younger selves in the mirror. This is a wonderfully done series that gives you pause to think, about the passage of time and the lives we are living.

Scholarships for Accredited Schools in Missouri

Scholarships for accredited schools, and accredited degree programs in Missouri certainly exist. In fact, traditional Missouri scholarship sponsors require that scholarship recipients must attend or anticipate on attending an accredited school, college, or university in Missouri. Another qualification by some scholarship sponsors is that students seeking Missouri scholarships should know something about the history of Missouri. As a general rule of thumb, the greater the value the Missouri scholarship then more is expected of the Missouri scholarship recipient.

Scholarship Quiz Questions for Missouri Scholarships destined for accredited Missouri Schools

The obvious question for persons seeking scholarships, grants, and financial-aid to attend one of the many accredited schools in the state of Missouri is: What must I know to qualify for a scholarship, grant, or financial-aid?

Persons seeking scholarships for the purposes of attending an accredited school or college in Missouri should know that many scholarship sponsors have different requirements, and altogether different scholarship applications. However, if a scholarship applicant is seeking scholarships, grants, or financial-aid sponsored by National Academy of American Scholars then the scholarship applicant should know at least the basic historical and founding facts surrounding Missouri.

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For example, Missouri’s geography is highly varied. The northern part of the state lies in dissected till plains while the southern part lies in the Ozark Mountains (a dissected plateau), with the Missouri River dividing the two. The state lies at the intersection of the three greatest rivers of North America, with the confluence of the Missouri and Missouri Rivers near St. Louis, and the confluence of the Ohio River with the Missouri north of the Bootheel. The starting points of the Pony Express Trail and Oregon Trail were both in Missouri. The mean center of United States population as of the 2010 Census is at the town of Plato in Texas County, Missouri.

Why are scholarships for accredited schools in Missouri needed?

Missouri scholarships are needed for accredited schools and universities in Missouri because the Missouri Department of Education is focused on education, and students should be rewarded for attending an accredited vs. a non-accredited school. By sponsoring scholarships, and grants for students attending accredited schools in Missouri, we support the belief that every student matters. Also, a high-proportion of Missouri moms, Missouri , mothers, Missouri women, and high-school graduates, as well as a large proportion of Missouri working adults pursue some form of higher education.

We sponsor Missouri scholarships for Missouri moms, women, working adults, and students. Nearly all of these moms, women, working adults, and students rely upon accredited Missouri scholarships, grants, and financial-aid. Missouri colleges and universities have experienced consistent year-over-year growth in enrollment, as well as a notorious habit of raising tuition each year. Unlike some states with lower educational standards, and a high proportion of students who drop out of schools, Missouri is a state with stringent educational standards, and high expectations. Also, Missouri has many quality school districts. Students whom plan on attending any of the quality universities in Missouri like Missouri University, or Missouri State University, will need scholarships to attend such accredited schools or programs.

One of the best possible resources for moms, women, single moms, and adults seeking scholarships, grants, and financial-aid for accredited colleges or accredited universities is the website of National Academy of American Scholarships. We encourage adult students, moms, women, and single mothers to explore these financial-aid options for scholarships, as well other Missouri scholarships that are not listed but may be accessed by visiting our Missouri Scholarships pages:

For a detailed continuation of this article, and numerous sources of renewable High-paying Missouri scholarships, official State of Missouri Pell Grants, Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (SEOG), and various other official Missouri Grant programs, and private sources of Missouri scholarships, grants, and financial-aid, please visit our Missouri Scholarships page:

Procrastinators UNITE...tomorrow

Mañana Rules OK. Hat tip Franzi Bee.

Instant Cash Help to Fulfill Unavoidable Needs

Are you willing to fulfill all your cash need and necessities with a single medium? Then, personal loans are the most excellent loans obtainable for you in the financial market.  You can meet all of your cash needs with the instant cash support from personal loans. Different loan lenders offer these loans to loan borrower so that they can easily meet their different immediate cash needs which can’t be neglected in any case.

People can find personal loans in secured and unsecured loans.  Those people who are ready to put some collateral against the loan amount and need larger cash aid with low interest charges can opt for the secured personal loans. 

All those people who are unable to place any collateral against the loans and need small fiscal aid can apply for unsecured personal loans which offer a small sum of money to loan applicants with high interest charges devoid of late fines.

The good thing about these loans is that people can access these loans in spite of their damaged credit profiles since the loan is exclusive of credit checks.  Bad creditors must pay back the loan amount with interest charges at the right time to avoid late fines.

Getting personal loans is an easy work as there is no hassle of extensive paperwork and loan processing fees on these loans and the whole procedure of this fiscal aid is completed online which is available for you 24*7/365 days. Propel your online request for these loans to the opted online lender to access these loans within 24 hours after loan application.

Why I Like Instacom

Readers of this blog would be familiar with my liking for Instacom. Instacom Group Berhad, a company which is principally providing support services to the telco industry and recently made its debut on the Ace Market of Bursa Malaysia (via the RTO of I-Power Berhad) in October 2012 may well be on its way to a possible Main Market transfer. The company acts as a contractor to install equipment for network equipment providers for the telcos. In addition to the aforesaid bread and butter business, it differentiates its business model with the other tier one boys mainly via its build and lease tower segment. In the longer run, upon having sufficient number of towers with recurrent income, the group may consider putting this segment of assets into a REIT – again a very common feature in overseas markets.

Following the recent announcement of the free 1 for 2 warrants, that exercise should be nearing approval and completion to go ex soon. Today is also an interesting day with RHB launching its 30 Jewels for smaller caps.

http://malaysiafinance.blogspot.com/2013/05/now-we-get-idea-of-whats-been-driving.html

Their Top 5 picks include Tambun, Brahims, Instakom, Well Call and Cahaya Mata Sarawak.

Furthermore, the implementation of the LTE network means more towers will be built, especially for the new players which were recently awarded the spectrum. This only means there are more jobs in the pipeline for players like Instacom, which will enhance its future earnings.

On 20 May 2013, Instacom announces that the company had received and accepted a Letter of Award for the supply, installation, testing and commissioning of telecommunication network and infrastructure and engineering works in Sarawak. The value of this project to Instacom is RM205 million, which is 
expected to contribute strongly to the company’s earnings and net assets for financial years ending 2013 to 2015. 

This development follows on the heels of the company’s sterling Q1 results announced on 14 May 2013 when it posted revenue of RM30.210 million and profit before tax of RM6.828 million, marking significant respective increases of RM29.350 million and RM9.895 million against the previous corresponding period.

Disclaimer: The content on this site is provided as general information only and should not be taken as investment advice. All site content, shall not be construed as a recommendation to buy or sell any security or financial instrument. The ideas expressed are solely the opinions of the author. Any action that you take as a result of information, analysis, or commentary on this site is ultimately your responsibility. Consult your investment adviser before making any investment decisions.

Google: The Digital Economy in Hyndburn

Dear Mr Jones, I wanted to write to you to let you know about some new data on the digital economy in Blackburn. Last Monday, the National Institute for Economic and Social Research launched a new report that shows: the digital economy includes over 270,000 companies nationally there are over 844 digital companies in the Blackburn travel-to-work-area, employing an estimated 19412

Employment Tribunal fees start today

This is a sad day for British justice and the protection of ordinary people at work. Check out this BBC report " Under the rules, it will cost £160 or £250 to lodge a claim, with a further charge of either £230 or £950 if the case goes ahead....in the Employment Appeal Tribunal, the fees are £400 to lodge an appeal and another £1,200 for a full hearing".

I am pleased that UNISON has been given permission to challenge these fees in a Judicial Review.

But it not just the fees. The minimum time to be employed before you can claim unfair dismissal is now 2 years not 1 year.

Independent trade union and employer representatives have been kicked off as lay judges in most tribunals. Employer's can threaten and bully employees out of a job by holding what is called "protected conversations" with them. "Conversations" that cannot normally be quoted in a tribunal. Possible awards have been reduced and restricted.

Costs can (and are) already levied for so called "frivolous claims".

The only possible positive thing arising from all this is that workers who don't join a trade union because they think the law will protect them at work will have to wake up and get real. The law will not not protect them at work, nor their employers. Only your union can protect you at work. UNISON and other trade unions have already pledged to pay the fees for members in a union supported case.

ps. Check out that well know communist, "Red" Lord Justice Mummery defence of the existing system.

Scholarships for Accredited Schools in Mississippi

Scholarships for accredited schools, and accredited degree programs in Mississippi certainly exist. In fact, traditional Mississippi scholarship sponsors require that scholarship recipients must attend or anticipate on attending an accredited school, college, or university in Mississippi. Another qualification by some scholarship sponsors is that students seeking Mississippi scholarships should know something about the history of Mississippi. As a general rule of thumb, the greater the value the Mississippi scholarship then more is expected of the Mississippi scholarship recipient.

Scholarship Quiz Questions for Mississippi Scholarships destined for accredited Mississippi Schools

The obvious question for persons seeking scholarships, grants, and financial-aid to attend one of the many accredited schools in the state of Mississippi is: What must I know to qualify for a scholarship, grant, or financial-aid?

Persons seeking scholarships for the purposes of attending an accredited school or college in Mississippi should know that many scholarship sponsors have different requirements, and altogether different scholarship applications. However, if a scholarship applicant is seeking scholarships, grants, or financial-aid sponsored by National Academy of American Scholars then the scholarship applicant should know at least the basic historical and founding facts surrounding Mississippi.

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For example, Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi (“Great River”). Mississippi is the 32nd most extensive and the 31st most populous of the 50 United States. The state is heavily forested outside of the Mississippi Delta area, which was cleared for cotton cultivation in the 19th century. Today, its catfish aquaculture farms produce the majority of farm-raised catfish consumed in the United States. The state symbol is the Magnolia grandiflora tree.

Why are scholarships for accredited schools in Mississippi needed?

Mississippi scholarships are needed for accredited schools and universities in Mississippi because the Mississippi Department of Education is focused on education, and students should be rewarded for attending an accredited vs. a non-accredited school. By sponsoring scholarships, and grants for students attending accredited schools in Mississippi, we support the belief that every student matters. Also, a high-proportion of Mississippi moms, Mississippi , mothers, Mississippi women, and high-school graduates, as well as a large proportion of Mississippi working adults pursue some form of higher education.

We sponsor Mississippi scholarships for Mississippi moms, women, working adults, and students. Nearly all of these moms, women, working adults, and students rely upon accredited Mississippi scholarships, grants, and financial-aid. Mississippi colleges and universities have experienced consistent year-over-year growth in enrollment, as well as a notorious habit of raising tuition each year. Unlike some states with lower educational standards, and a high proportion of students who drop out of schools, Mississippi is a state with stringent educational standards, and high expectations. Also, Mississippi has many quality school districts. Students whom plan on attending any of the quality universities in Mississippi like Mississippi University, or Mississippi State University, will need scholarships to attend such accredited schools or programs.

One of the best possible resources for moms, women, single moms, and adults seeking scholarships, grants, and financial-aid for accredited colleges or accredited universities is the website of National Academy of American Scholarships. We encourage adult students, moms, women, and single mothers to explore these financial-aid options for scholarships, as well other Mississippi scholarships that are not listed but may be accessed by visiting our Mississippi Scholarships pages:

For a detailed continuation of this article, and numerous sources of renewable High-paying Mississippi scholarships, official State of Mississippi Pell Grants, Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (SEOG), and various other official Mississippi Grant programs, and private sources of Mississippi scholarships, grants, and financial-aid, please visit our Mississippi Scholarships page:

All Quiet On The .... Front

We cannot really call ourselves the Western front, nor can we call it the Eastern front ... so what can we call it ... khatulistiwa front??

Everyone is a bit puzzled why the market went so dead despite the index breaching 1800 last week .. well, I guess you need some asshole to tell you that the bulk of monies have gone two ways, one is to subscribe for the Ranhill IPO which went nowhere but you cannot get your monies back so soon. Two, all of us are selling what we can to be cashed up to buy SONA warrants this morning.

The secretive thing is that all investors are busy selling down other shares to be cashed up for SONA ... its like a secret things which has bogged the market down for the past 3 trading days but nobody is willing to talk about it.

Its funny how we all think we can do this secretly ... there is nothing that can dissuade us from buying SONA. It is empirically a better SPAC than Hibiscus or CLIQ. Hibiscus spent the first 3 months in the wilderness, then all hell broke loose ... the warrants which could have been gotten at 15 sen shot up together with the mother share... before long the warrants were at 1.00.

Then we have CLIQ, people got a little more bullish after seeing how Hibiscus performed. It only stayed below 20 sen (the warrant) for a couple of days and then just zoomed to 50 sen ... even after all the euphoria the warrant is still around 40 sen, and they still have not announced any QA.

Dollar for dollar, SONA is better than both of these SPACs put together, personalities wise.  So whats going to happen today???

Thankfully, the cornerstone investors are not under moratorium, if not we will only have 150m odd shares and warrants on display. As it is, at least we will see 900m shares and warrants being available for trading.

Following CLIQ, it looks like people will be exuberant .... I hope warrants will trade below 25 sen. The mother share will dip below 50 sen for sure, maybe 45 sen as the IPO holders and cornerstone investors are looking at a clean 20% gain.

What I am fearing is to see the mother share at 45 sen and the warrant at 35 sen, which would be ridiculous ... let's see if we can all make some money here.

The history of 9.5% Post Office Savings Bank (POSB) interest rates and the effects of inflation

The current interest rate is so low in Singapore. Currently, most banks pay 0.05% on bank deposit accounts. You've heard it! Its a tiny 0.05%. That means if you save $100000 in the bank, the interest you receive at the end of the year is only $50!! What can $50 buy you in Singapore? The most a decent family meal and that's it.

Why is the interest rate so low now? I've found out a very interesting history of the savings deposit rates offered by POSB which was known as Post Office Savings Bank in the past. The highest interest ever recorded was 9.5% on 1 August, 1981. I am not old enough to have experienced the history of interest rates in Singapore so i asked my parents and also searched on it in the internet.

My parents told me in those days, they had an average of 5-6% interest from the savings they put in the bank. Every year, they had hundreds or thousands of dollars in interest from the banks. My mum even said my grandpa always used the interest earned from savings in the bank to give red packets to us. We had very generous red packets from my grandpa on every Chinese new year at that time. That was in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

What happened to those days where we see high savings account interest in Singapore?

Below shows the Deposit interest rates in Singapore:

We can see that interest rates has fallen over the years. Let's look at the history of interest rates in Singapore learning from POSB.

History of POSB interest rates

Here are the interesting facts i found out:

In 1965, interest rates was at 3%
In 1968, interest rates was revised upwards from 3% to 4%

In 1974, POSB was transferred to become part of the Ministry of Finance and Credit POSB Pte Ltd was established in the same year to provide custom-tailored loans relating to HDB housing ownership. POSB also raise the interest rate to 4.5% p.a. for deposit on 1st Jan, 5% in July and 8% in August.

On 1 September 1978, POSB introduced a 2-tier interest rate with a 5.25% p.a. for the first $100,000 deposit and 3.5% for the subsequent amount.

In 1980, it introduced the Passcard, and set-up the Principal Branch. On 1 May 1980, POSB revised the 2-tier interest rate upwards with a 7% p.a. for the first $100,000 deposit and 5% for the subsequent amount.

In 1981, its first Cash-On-Line ATM opened at the Newton Branch. On 1 July 1981, POSB revised the 2-tier interest rate upwards with a 9% p.a. for the first $100,000 deposit and 6.5% for the subsequent amount.
I remembered my dad had a very old POSB cash-on-line atm card but i just couldn't find any pictures on it. It was grey in colour and had a card holder also. Maybe some of you would remember that.

On 1 Auguest 1981, the interest rates on the first $100,000 was revised upwards to 9.5%. This was a historical moment as it was the highest interest rate every recorded. 

The Post Office Savings Bank (POSB) was officially renamed as POSBank in March 1990. The word “Savings Bank” was dropped. On 1 June 1990, POSB adjusted the 2-tier interest rate upwards with a 4% p.a. for the first $100,000 deposit and 3% for the subsequent amount.

You would have realised that POSB has been paying higher interest rates on smaller amounts up to $100,000 and lower interest rates on subsequent amounts. This changed on 1 March 1998 due to the asian financial crisis. Commercial banks interest rates rose and this caused POSB to lose some of its bigger depositors. This prompted POSB to give higher interest rates of 4.125% to amounts above $100,000 and lower of 3.75% to amounts below $100,000

POSBank was fully acquired by DBS Bank on 16 November 1998. Witnessing the event were Finance Minister Dr. Richard Hu and DBS Bank Chairman Mr. S. Dhanabalan. This event marks the end of Savings Bank concept and welcome the new era of low interest loans in Singapore.

Mr. S. Dhanabalan, the Chairman of DBS Bank, declared that “POSBank cannot remain the way it is”. To start the ball rolling down hill, DBS announced on 18 November 1998 that POSBank Savings Account Balances, which is still tax-exempted, for the first $50,000 is at 2.25% p.a. down 0.5% and in excess of $50,000 at 2.25%. And swiftly on 10 December 1998 that POSBank Savings Account Balances for the first $50,000 adjusted downward to 1.5% p.a. and deposit in excess of $50,000 at 1.75%.

By year 2000, saving deposit interest rates dropped below 1% and has been even lower currently.

One good thing about the low interest rates on deposits was that loans interest rates also decreased significantly. Those who buy properties could borrow at a much lower rate which is also a cause of our sky-rocket housing prices currently as loans were very affordable.

Why we should invest?

At current low interest rates, our money becomes more and more worthless in the bank as inflation "eats" up a portion of our cash. Can we really feel the effects of inflation in our daily lives? If you ask the older generation, they would grumble about the higher prices today and compare the cheaper things they could buy back in the past. This is not their fault that they are complaining. They have live through the past and experienced things that we as younger people do not understand.

Let's look through at how much things cost in the past as compared to today. I found some interesting pictures on the internet. Pictures taken from remembersingapore.wordpress.com. Quite an interesting blog.

Bus tickets in Singapore. This one i remembered as i used to insert a transitlink card into the bus machine when i was in primary school and press a button for the correct fare and out comes a ticket like this. I guess this was much earlier than my time as its only 10cents per ticket. I remembered my student fare was 35cents at its cheapest for a non aircon bus. You should know how much prices are for public transport now.



Old movie tickets at $2.50 and $3 in 1985. Now? A weekday ticket at $7.50 and weekend ticket at $10.50. That's 3 times more expensive now.



HDB prices are the major increases. The current 4 room flat that i live in now cost $70,000 in the 1990s when my parents first bought it. Now it cost more than $300,000.



A bowl of fish ball noodle cost $2 in the 1990s. Now average cost around $3.


Will prices continue to rise? I'm sure it will unless our economy suffers a long recession and go into a deflationary mode. If this does happen, then we may lose our jobs too. We wouldn't want that to happen.

The purpose of me showing you the above price increase of different items is not to complain about the high cost of living but to bring to your attention that the same amount of money we have now will not buy us the same amount of things. In the 1960s and 1970s, people who have $1000 were considered those who are more well off. $1000 could buy you a lot of things and last you for months on food. Now, $1000 is nothing in our current economy. If we think that $100,000 is a lot for us now, it may be worth not much 10 years from now. With savings interest so low now, the need to invest become increasingly importantly. Or else, we will realise that our hard earned money saved is not enough for us to retire. Learn to invest and invest wisely.

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1. Investing basics - How do I start investing?
2. Investing Basics - Low Cost Index Fund investing (Passive Investing)
3. My views on the new POSB Invest-Saver
4. How to pick stocks (Part 1) - Economic Moats

A professional review of Black Girls Code

A professional review of Black Girls Code. Do Black Girls Code Promote Racism? Is Black Girls Code an affinity scam that preys upon young women of color and corporate donors who naively believe that dollars are assisting young African-American women write "computer-code"? Alternatively, is Black Girls Code a legitimate non-profit organization that complies with I.R.S. regulations that specify how funds must be used when accepting general donations from the public for a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization? We hope that this article will address these concerns.

According to Kimberly Bryant, the stated objective displayed on the website of Black Girls Code is that "By launching Black Girls Code, I hope to provide young and pre-teen girls of color opportunities to learn in-demand skills to at (sic) a time when they are naturally thinking about what they want to be when they grow up." Note: Grammatical errors have not been edited, and are re-printed AS IS. Source: the website of Black Girls Code..

In writing this article, I will address two specific areas of concern. First, I will address whether or not Black Girls Code is a Scam and whether or not Black Girls Code is a racist promotion. I am not privileged to have any prosecutorial powers, or tangible evidence proving or disproving that Black Girls Code is a scam, and therefore any statements made hereon are purely a matter of opinion and should not be relied upon as facts.

FundRaising Techniques by Black Girls Code

Black Girls Code relies upon numerous Internet-based promotions. For example, Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube are means which Black Girls Code uses to solicit donations. Black Girls Code also relies upon generous free publicity from local San Francisco-based publications, certain womens' groups, as well as digital publications such as the Huffington Post. Another method used by Black Girls appears to be controversial chains-style tyoe letters that are form letters apparently used by Black Girls Code with instructions for its various members and/or supporters to re-send the scripted letter to prospective donors.

Funds are being solicited based upon the stated mission of helping black-girls learn coding, and specifically programming languages such as Scratch or Ruby on Rails. Generous free publicity by digital and main-stream publications such as the Huffington Post, Scientific American, local San Francisco newspapers, and several others have also helped Black Girls Code. With this free publicity, and keen race-based marketing, “Black Girls CODE” now claims to have reached 2,000 students through chapters in half a dozen cities, including New York, Memphis, Detroit, San Francisco, Atlanta and Johannesburg, South Africa. Web-based traffic is no doubt being generated by off-line free publicity, and social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter.

Black Girls Code Offers No Tangible or Specific Support to African-American boys

"We need to prepare underrepresented populations to fill those positions, create technologies that serve their communities and lead us into a future that serves everyone. We can't afford as a nation to let a generation of students be left behind by the wave of innovation. If we want to succeed as a nation, we NEED your help to secure the future of these bright young minds. The world needs Black Girls who CODE! "--Kimberly Bryant

Note: Notice how the promoter emphasizes black girls and appears to deliberately omit black boys. Notice how the promoter fails to qualify the omission of other races. Apparently, Kimberly Bryant does not believe that the world needs any Black Boys who code, and neither is her organization apparently affiliated with such an organization that supports Black Boys who code.

Very little mention in the Black Girls Code marketing literature mentions, references, or even cites statistics related to the serious issues affecting young African-American men; or, even poor working-class "white-girls"

True to myth, it should not be any surprise that Black Girls Code offers NO support to African-American boys, and neither does the organization even acknowledge the existence of the black male youth, and that such young African-American males require support.

Black Girls Code appears to be a divisive effort to supplant black girls over black boys in-order to justify racial myths and to lesson the threat of an educated African-Male--R. Jones, A Black male

Technical Critique of the website of Black Girls Code

The desktop website of Black Girls Code is programmed in an old version of .HTML instead of the more advanced .PHP or HTML5. I consider it inconsistent to be promoting a subject like Black Girls Code when the principal website of the promoter is programmed in an inferior language that is more than 20 years old. Very few advanced programmers are programming their website in the old version of .HTML

Upon examination of the programming code of the Black Girls Code website, it is apparent that the programmer (whom I suspect to be Kimberly Bryant) used a cookie-cooker HTML authoring tool (/cdn2.editmysite.com/) that is designed for novice or beginner website programmers. No professional website coder uses something as basic as a site-builder web programming tool. However, according to Kimberly Bryant the money that her Black Girls Code is soicitig is used for "programming." The fact is that you do not need $100,000 to use a $30.00 site-builder application.

The desktop website of Kimberly Bryant and her Black Girls Code has many other suspicious signs, and tell-tale signs of unprofessionalism. It would appear to me that a person promoting a concept like Black Girls Code and mobile app development would at least either pay a website professional to create a custom website, or have the ability to design a professional-looking that does not use cookie-cutter, site-building, scripts. Having raised over $100,000, in a few short days, certainly Ms. Kimberly Bryant can afford a professional website and an assistant for her Black Girls Code.

The central message of the website is "donations" and efforts to market t-shirts. There are no form requests for businesses or direct emails for consumers or businesses to reach out to one of the over 2,000 black girls that Black Girls Code has allegedly trained and educated to develop custom websites, or mobile apps.

Technical Critique of the Mobile website of Black Girls Code

The mobile website of Black Girls Code is quite different than the desktop website, except that both websites emphasize the call for DONATIONS more than what has been allegedly produced WITH the DONATIONS.

The mobile website of Black Girls Code appears to be single mobile landing page. The dominate message is the call for DONATIONS. There are no links to mobile apps or mobile websites designed or published by a single "black girl." Moreover, I tested the mobile website of Black Girls with an Android operating system, and the it became almost impossible to leave the mobile website. Perhaps, it was a programming error on the part of the mobile site creator. It is not uncommon for unscrupulous website promoters to lock a visitor into a website and refuse to release the lock until a favorable action is executed by the site visitor. I have no evidence that the mobile website of Black Girls Code is an unscrupulous website, and neither is it suggested herein. I am merely relaying my personal experience that it was difficult for me to exit the mobile website. I am sure that there is a logical explanation.

Summary of Black Girls Code Review

In 2013, I do not believe we need to be creating more race-based organizations that divide male, and female by race. It is incomprehensible why we, as Americans, need to create more race-based groups. If a black boy and black girl both showed up at the foot-steps of a corporation, asking for donations to help each group write computer code, which group should the corporation support? According to Kimberly Bryant, the donation should be given to the Black girls because the world needs Black Girls who code.

I have no records that Black Girls Code is a scam per se. However, neither have I examined their Form 990 tax returns. Based upon an examination of their marketing literature, statements of Black Girls Code, and the historical reservations of educating African male youth even in times of slavery (preference was provided the Negro (black) girl because she was more susceptible to control and manipulation), I have serious doubts and suspicions about the motives and intentions of Black Girls Code. I also have serious reservations about the motives and intentions of the companies that are sponsoring this cause because no similar effort is apparently being directed at young African-American men and youth.

For lucrative scholarships, grants, and financial-aid options for women, moms, and students, please review the scholarships, and grants sponsored by National Academy of American Scholars:

For African-American scholarships, grants, and financial-aid options, please see this page:

Why there is a rural housing crisis

This article was published in Country Standard Summer 2013 page 9. "By John Gray UNISON Housing Association Branch Secretary and National Executive Council Member

Why is it that there is a massive shortage of rural housing when all Councillors support affordable housing yet not enough is built ? Is this because the government is not funding housing associations or Councils to build?

Despite the crocodile tears of Government ministers and many rural councils about the massive shortage of affordable homes in the countryside for local people, the reasons are actually pretty straight forward and can be solved.

Firstly, the Nimby’s (Not In My Back Yard) Brigade. Often you find that those who are adequately housed in attractive countryside don’t want more homes to be built that they think may spoil their view out of the garden conservatory. Especially if these homes are thought to house possible “working class people”!

Changes to planning law means that Councils are not obliged to insist on the building of affordable homes if they don’t want to - and many don’t, they simply don’t care, regardless of the need.

We also seem to think that converting large chunks of the so called “green belt” into huge, ugly exploitative factory farms, often set up solely to take advantage of generous EU and UK government subsidies is preferable to building some new homes.

The countryside has in too many areas been colonised by a blight of retirement bungalows and weekend second homes for our wealthy urban middle class elites. As well as wreaking village communities by destroying local schools, shops and pubs. This results also in the double whammy of a lack of supply of homes and a very high demand - which pushes up prices completely out of reach for those who do not have access to a wealthy Bank of Mum and Dad.

There is also far less existing social housing in rural areas than urban (13% compared to 22%) as well as low wages and lack of jobs. The disastrous government policy of the so called “affordable rents” regime for new properties (and in many cases the new lettings of existing stock) costing up to 80% of market rents compared to the traditional social rent of 50% of market rates is another death nail. The barking mad destruction of the Agricultural Wages Board which will even lower pay is yet another.

The Bankers crisis and the huge cuts in housing investment by this Tory Government have of course just made the problem far, far worse.

There is some hope for the future since it seems that there is antidotal evidence at least that Tory MPs are being button holed in their Conservative Association Clubs by angry members who are fed up with their kids living at home until in their thirties, since even their offspring cannot afford their own place.

There is also concern expressed that there is no “help” available anymore to clean their homes, do their gardens or serve their food and drink at the local posh restaurant.

There are signs that the Countryside is turning and there is a feeling that enough is enough. Labour Councillors are now being returned in Shire and district Council elections up and down the country. This month in rural Dorset we will celebrate the Tolpuddle Martyrs and remember a time when the countryside was at the forefront of radical politics.

Maybe, just maybe, our contemporary rural poverty and homelessness may spark something a little similar.