Market Watch

Joe Quinlan, MD and Chief Market Strategist at US Trust-Bank of America Private Wealth Management in New York doesn't necessarily agree with Mark Mobius of Templeton Asset Management who says another financial crisis is around the corner. He expects the world economy to grow at 4% and says there's enough upside for equity. On where oil prices are headed, he says to get used to $100 oil. Crude oil...

ECM Libra Research says Sime Darby's results came in slightly below their's and market's expectations. Fair price for sale of its fabrication yards, positive move for MMHE. CPO expected to stay above RM3,000 per tonne this year. On planned 3.1 billion dollar investment in Liberia, it's a good move for growth. Target Price for Sime Darby remains at RM9.12, NEUTRAL while MMHE's target price is at RM...

Dodge O Dorland, Chairman and Chief Investment Officer of Landor & Fuest Capital Managers, New York talked about the likelihood of QE2 and a half or QE Lite. Politics calls for avoiding the hard financial decisions until after the next Presidential elections. If the Fed Reserve were to intervene again, the stock market may rally in the short term, but chances are losses if no improvement in th...

Suhaimi Ilias, Group Chief Economist of Maybank IB Research commented on the implications of delayed subsidy cuts for the economy's long term productivity and competitiveness. He also talked about the eventual impact on Malaysia's sovereign credit rating, cost of future borrowings, whether it creates a false sense of security, and opportunity cost. He's of the view that the present subsidy system...

Tim Mulholland, MD of China-America Capital Company in Chicago expects further slowdown in the US economy to 2.5% for the 2nd quarter of the year, judging by Q1 GDP figures which came in less than forecast at 1.8%. Thinks Portugese bailout bonds are a bad idea - China and other Asian investors are expected to buy a 'strong proportion' of these when the eurozone's rescue fund starts auctioning them...

Ben LeBrun, market analyst and commentator at CMC Markets in Sydney thinks it's bad timing for an IPO anywhere in the world now, no to investing in Glencore and Noble Group for now. Commented on durable goods orders in US which dropped 3.6% in April, the most in six months and expectations for US GDP and jobless claims. He thinks should tread with caution where Sundance Resources is concerned - JP...

Ker Chung Yang, Commodity Analyst at Phillip Futures in Singapore expects May data to surprise on the upside, based on past ten years' data. Demand usually picks up in May. China's palm oil imports have also increased of late. Also updated on soybean - bumper crops from Brazil and Argentina - and how it'll impact CPO. Market most concerned about export data, followed by eurozone debt crisis. Talke...

Dr Michael A Yoshikami agrees with Goldman Sachs that it's a good time to add commodities, and is doing so to his portfolio. Not keen on Yandex,  the owner of Russia's most popular search engine. Frenzy over this and Linkedin because very few shares released to public. Buy Yandex only if comfy with heavy volatility. Not too excited about home sales, as still tremendous inventory. Greece not g...

Lee Cheng Hooi, Maybank IB Research Equity Markets, Head of Retail Research says failure to hold 1,507 will see the market testing the psychological level of 1,500 and subsequently back down to 1,474. He also commented on the recent weakening of the Ringgit from 2.96 to 3.07. More defensive, thinks holding more cash is better for the time being. Favourite defensives for now are F&N, YTL Cement...

OSK Research Head Chris Eng thinks an upward revision in gas prices is long overdue, in response to market talk that gas prices are on their way up. In the event that gas prices were to rise, he's expecting a 10-15% rise. He also talked about how Petronas Dagangan and Petronas Chemicals would be affected, and how Malaysia gas prices compare versus the rest of the region. Besides Tenaga Nasional, c...

Dodge O Dorland, Chairman and CIO of Landor & Fuest Capital Managers, New York gave us his views on who would be the next IMF leader. If favourite French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde were to win, it'd be a relief at this point. Where LinkedIn Corp's recent IPO's concerned, the stock could go higher if LinkedIn emulates Google's reporting in 2004.  Watch Yandex, Russia's largest onli...

Adam Tomlinson, Director of Food & Agribusiness Research and Advisory at Rabobank International talked about how he sees the broader commodities theme affecting sugar prices, and more specifically, the impact of crude oil and the dollar on the sugar market. Sugar prices are balancing, the curve is quite flat, forecasts for next 12 months sugar prices stay at low 20 cents per pound mark. On an...

Rahul Bajoria, Regional Economist at Barclays Capital Singapore explained that Malaysia's Q1 GDP came in at 4.6%, lower than market consensus of 4.9% due to stronger net imports. Though investment growth decelerated to +6.5% (from +10% in 4Q10) despite the government's economic transformation initiatives, Bajoria thinks it's still decent and expects investment growth to increase. He still expects...

Ben Le Brun, market analyst and commentator at Sydney told us how IMF MD Dominique Strauss Kahn's current situation would affect ongoing Greece talks, and how likely Greece is to restructure its debts. He also gave us an update on what stocks markets in the region have been focusing on in the last few days, and on take-over talks in the Aussie media sector between Austar and Foxtel. Where the Auss...

Dr Michael A Yoshikami, YCMNET Advisors, San Francisco expects US' debt ceiling to go up this week. He's not surprised by US housing starts and manufacturing falling in April, though majority were, expects slow recovery to continue. To watch data on unemployment, high oil prices and manufacturing figures closely. On world stocks hitting a one-month low on Tuesday, he's of the view that commodities...

Dodge Dorland of Landor & Fuest Capital Managers explains the consequences if Greece leaves the Euro and whether the US is likely to default on its bond payments as it hits its debt limit. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Raj Rajaratnam, co-founder of Galleon Group LLC was found guilty of all 14 counts against him in the largest insider-trading trial in a generation. Aberdeen Asset Management Sdn Bhd Managing Director Gerald Ambrose thinks it's cathartic, and good to see such results. No shockwaves through the local industry as it's rather remote, and likelihood of such a verdict is low. Also discussed wire tapping...

RHB Research Analyst Loong Kok Wen would rather wait for Pavilion KL's draft prospectus before comparing Pavilion REIT with Sunway REIT. Timing of Pavilion REIT listing to capture property market upcycle, and raise funds for further expansion. Inflationary pressure could deter consumer spending, but impact of inflation on tenants' performance could be mitigated. External demand growth to pick up f...

Ben LeBrun of CMC Markets in Sydney gave his views on the US government monthly budget deficit, and the unsurprising Aussie budget, rating the latter a 5 out of 10. Sees long term sustained growth in China and hopes for a stronger yuan. Interesting to note that Asian stock markets brushed off Chinese data but US was focusing heavily on this. Recommends copper stocks despite recent concerns, BHP an...

Helen Lau, Senior Analyst at UOB Kay Hian (Hong Kong) Research, tells us why recent volatility in the commodities market and China demand reflecting weak demand won't affect Glencore's IPO. Also talked about Glencore's famously opaque management style, as well as market talk about Glencore buying stake in Kazzinc and Xstrata. She's keen on Glencore and is buying into it. Investors could buy in the...

Robert Pavlik, Chief Market Strategist at Banyan Partners in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida - reaction to Microsoft buying Skype Technologies for $8.5 billion cash to gain the world's most popular Web-calling service. He explains why he's not keen on Microsoft shares, and would rather buy other tech stocks such as Qualcom, JDS, Baidu and Visa. He also talked about China's hefty trade surplus in April...

Robert Prior-Wandesforde, Head of India and South East Asia Economics at Credit Suisse, Singapore gave us an update on how Non-Japan Asia economy is doing; looking at inflation and growth rates. He also explained why he expects all the central banks within the region to increase rates by at least another 50 basis points over the rest of the year, with a focus on the Reserve Bank of India's volatil...

Malcolm Polley, President and CIO of Stewart Capital Advisors in Pennsylvania is not surprised by S&P cutting Greece's credit rating to B, and expects collateral to be required at some point for Greece to get out of the economic jam they're in. Single Greek currency would be substantially weaker than an EU currency with Greece as a member. He also talked about whether the price of commodities...

RHB Research Analyst Toh Woo Kim talked about concession hectarage for individual timber companies, demand and supply dynamics in the timber sector. He also discussed his expectations for log and plywood price patterns. Demand in Japan is rather guess work based, but used Kobe earthquake as a guide. He also talked about the risk of bad weather, particleboard and MDF as substitutes for plywood. and...

Dodge Dorland, Landor & Fuest Capital Managers in New York views last week's commodities reverse as a correction, and discussed the divergence between commodities and stocks. Regarding EU officials possibly requiring Greece to provide collateral for aid, he views this as the only solution to Greece's dilemma. He also talked about expectations for data for the week ahead - retail sales, produce...