Market Watch

On today's Market Watch, we spoke to Ben LeBrun, Market Analyst and Commentator at Options Express in Sydney: (1) In Australia, investors had plenty of earnings reports to chew on yesterday, with Commonwealth Bank, Westfield, Fortescue and Reject Shop among the many companies reporting. Ben tells us his read on some of the results, and why ordering a pizza from your smartphone caused quite a sensa...

On today's Market Watch, we spoke to Peter Esho, Chief Market Analyst at City Index in Sydney: -- Eurozone officials have called off an emergency meeting of finance ministers to approve a vital €130bn bail-out for Athens, amid a growing fight among the country's European creditors about the merits of allowing Greece to go bankrupt. Peter talks about why he thinks Europe will not let Gree...

- Athens has just passed the austerity bill demanded by the eurozone and IMF in return for a €130 billion bailout to avoid default amid some turmoil and protests. - Outlook as the Dow, the Nasdaq ended in the red and the S&P 500 posted its biggest daily percentage decline so far this year. - Investors' initial positive reaction to the Feds holding rates steady has this fizzled out? - With...

Bursa Malaysia's full year profit rose 29%, and declared an interim dividend of 13 sen per share versus 10.5 sen a year ago.  Hon Seow Mee, Analyst at HwangDBS Vickers Research talks about Bursa's performance, estimates for the year ahead and her raised target price for the local stock exchange from RM5.20 to RM6.      See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tim Mulholland, Managing Director, China-America Capital Company, Chicago - Chinese inflation spiking to a consensus-busting 4.5 percent in January; - Hopes of a near-term cut to bank reserve ratio requirements; - Chinese Vice-President Xi Jinping’s official visit to Washington - Chinese-US “trust deficit” - patching tattered ties; - Possibility of debt contagion to Italy and Por...

Ben LeBrun at Options Express Sydney remains upbeat about BHP Biliton's outlook and the impending Glencore-Xstrata merger is an indication of other mergers and acquisitions to come. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Fadhli Zil Ikram of Jupiter securities talked about Naim Indah, which hit limit up yesterday to close at 49 sen and was the second most active stock on Bursa yesterday. Also discussed what various sources said about this stock.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Michael A. Yoshikami, the CEO and Founder-Chairman of YCMNET Advisors, discusses: - Posturing by Greek politicians who are dismissive of the cuts being demanded by its creditor neighbours; - Worst-case scenario of a disorderly default; - Deutsche Bank CEO Josef Ackermann's views of “a new Pandora’s box” in the eurozone crisis - contagion to Portugal and Italy as a very real possi...

Benny Lee, Chief Market Strategist at Next View Sdn Bhd talked about... - more positivity expected in FBM KLCI for the next three days, above 1,530 points  - sees more potential downside for MAHB, despite good take-up rate of KLIA2 concessionaires - bearish on auto sector, no interest in the short term except for DRB Hicom and Proton  - no buying opportunities for plantation counters at...

Tim Mulholland, MD of China-America Capital Company, discusses: - Facebook's IPO, and Zuckerberg's retaining control through his 10-1 privileged voting share rights; - The governance implications; - Gary Shilling's forecast for China’s economy heading for a “hard landing”; - India, corruption: its Supreme Court having just overturned 122 mobile telephone licences awarded in 2008...

Leong Wai Ho, Senior Regional Economist at Barclays Capital, Singapore talked about... - rebound in PMI readings led by China, India and Japan - what that means for Malaysia, which trades with them  - sustainability of these PMI readings - likelihood of China to keep an easing bias in the meantime - despite recent uptick in Asia's PMI, Eurozone developments expected to weigh heavily on c...

Suresh Ramanthan, CIMB’s Head of Regional Rates and FX Strategy talked about Bank Negara's liberalisation of forex admin rules under the new Financial Sector Blueprint. Covered: - what it means from retail investor perspective - how to manage increased vulnerability to capital flows - parallels with Thailand, England, Soros in 90's - RM generally appreciates slightly following previous...

Ben Le Brun at Options Express Sydney expects that mining stocks could continue to record profits despite concerns of China's economic health, and there could be some bright spots among retail and banking stocks in the upcoming earnings season in Australia. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Wu Kun Lung, Economist at Credit Suisse, Singapore talked about...  - US' Q4 GDP disappointing at 2.8%, below the consensus 3% - what that means for us - Thailand's rate cut by 25 bps, India cut cash reserve ratio by 50bps while Indonesia is expected to leave interest rates at 6% in Feb - Central Bank governor's comment that rates are still "accommodative"  - why Credit Suisse expects ra...

Joe Quinlan at US Trust Bank of America Private Wealth Management in New York says the attention has shifted to Portugal as its borrowing costs hit a record high, and unless there is concrete action, the EU summits are doing little to allay market fears and reduce volatility. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Benny Lee, Chief Market Strategist at Next View Sdn Bhd talked about... - resistance and support levels for the KLCI this week - charts uncertain for IJM and Ahmad Zaki Resources, more bullish on Gamuda though - telcos overbought - bearish outlook for CPO - trading ideas for this week: Kim Lun and Cypark  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dodge O. Dorland, Chairman and Chief Investment Officer of Landor & Fuest Capital Managers, discusses: - US growth - headwinds to growth; - Facebook's pending IPO; - Greece's debt restructuring - new loan - whether further conditions to be imposed. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Michael A Yoshikami of YCMNet Advisors believes that a last minute deal will be reached at the eleventh hour to save Greece from defaulting.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tim Mulholland of China America Capital Company says the Fed's decision to maintain almost zero interest rate through 2014 will not be effective. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ben LeBrun of Options Express Sydney remains optimistic about the Australian economy but alludes to a two-speed economy where the miners are doing well but bank margins are under pressure and some retailers are struggling.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets, Asia’s leading independent brokerage and investment group, launched its 18th CLSA Feng Shui Index (“CLSA FSI”) which takes a tongue-in-cheek look at what’s in store for each of the Chinese zodiac signs during this year of the Black Water Dragon. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tim Mulholland, MD at China-America Capital Company in Chicago talked about... - US CPI, Housing Starts, Jobless Claims, Philadelphia Fed Survey  - US results: Google, IBM, Intel and Microsoft - bank results: Goldman Sachs earnings down 58%, BOFA earnings rose on loan growth, Q4 net income of $2 billion - Spanish and French bond auctions were better than expected, who to credit...

Malaysia's CPI inflation slowed to 3% YoY in December from 3.3% YoY in November.  Irvin Seah, Economist at DBS Bank in Singapore talked about... - inflation, likely average 2.6% for 2012, from 3.2% in 2011 - slow growth momentum for Malaysia, expects full year growth to come in below 5% - Ringgit weakness more likely - Bank Negara's policy rate, room for BNM to cut OPR by 50 basis points in 1...

Joseph Tek, CEO and MD at IJM Plantations Bhd updates us on the company's foray to Indonesia, outlook for CPO prices, and weather patterns. He also responds to rumours of IJM Plantations being possibly taken private.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dr Michael A Yoshikami, founder & CEO of YCMNET Advisors in San Francisco talked about... - China numbers: Q4 GDP @ 8.9% (consensus 8.7%), retail sales rose 17% in 2011, industrial production beat expectations - China govt could stimulate the economy via infrastructure spending - beneficiaries from this move - what Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang's resignation from Yahoo means for the company, as...