Bursa Celebrates 50th Anniversary of Independence

So we had a four day trading week. While the world trades on, we watch by the sidelines. Even though the Dow and S&P Futures are down marginally, the global markets are hopping mad with joy like Mexican jumping beans.

Tonight's Dow will be the determiner when Bursa opens on Monday 2nd September. The general view is an upward scenario. The sub-prime will recede; the investors will trade with calmer nerves and market will be less choppy.

Construction and property stocks should climb undeterred until the revealing of the 2008 Budget on September 8.

Heartsong

Not Too Bad

For a dog-day afternoon, it was not too bad bad. I expected worse but it came off quite good in spite of selling pressure on situational stocks like KPS, KHSB and JAKS. Some second grade blues might have topped up the index in the last hour or so. The CI finished a good 10.23 points to 1273.37 as the nation celebrates its 50th independence anniversary.

There were many 573 gainers compared to 254 losers. Volume was 952 million shares worth RM1.65 billion. Could be better. Gainers were Muhibbah tacking on 70 sen;BAT moving up 50 sen; Lion Div climbing 50 sen; Ranhill shooting up 42 sen and Commerce adding 40 sen. Going downhill were Bandaraya Development losing its pants by 53 sen; SAAG dropping 20 sen, Transmile aborting 16 sen and SPSetia tumbling 15 sen.

The portfolio was generally better. Genting upped 20 sen to RM7.35 as it has been badly oversold but BJ Sports Toto was down by 12 sen to RM4.98. Resorts added 2 sen to RM3.80 while both JAKS and RCE were 0.5 sen better at 93.5 sen and 79.5 sen. Unchanged was Welli at 97 sen while AMDB dropped 0.5 sen to 41 sen.

Fair trading in the afternoon even though it was dull and listless. Most remisiers, dealers and stock brokers must have take off early and are having a refreshing siesta like our mutt up there as they get ready to enjoy the fire-works tonight at Dataran Merdeka.

Merdeka! Merdeka !Merdeka!

Heartsong

The Mildest Technical

With such a ramped-up Dow, Bursa was feeble, responding with the mildest technical rebound. Started well when kiasus stomped in but after the early euphoria, prices slided. CI finished up 6.3 points to 1269.97 points. Volume was about 545.8 million shares worth RM 768.4 million. Gainers led losers 488 to 217.

Gainers were BAT flying off with a 75 sen gain;followed by Lion Div topping up 60 sen, AHPlant adding a further 28 sen and Mentiga upping 27 sen. Losers saw the likes of KFC losing 25 sen and OSKProp losing 22 sen.

Portfolio was so so. Genting added 5 sen to RM7.20; JAKS added 2 sen to 95 sen while RCE added 1 sen to 80.5 sen. Resorts and Metronic was at their overnight level of RM3.78 and 16 sen while Welli fell by another sen to 96 sen.

I will log AMBD again. A penny stock that has turned around, it should attract buying support at least to 50 sen prior to the September 8 Budget speech. The public is expecting goodies for the property and construction sector. It closed unchanged this morning at 41.5 sen.

Since this is the last day of this week, I believe many are leaving early for their holidays. For them day is done and so expect most shares prices to moderate downwards as the fading minutes of afternoon trading arrives.

Heartsong

Too Good The Hero

Bursa is one hard nut to crack. Is it because it has finally decided to come out of its cocoon and cut the umbilical cord to Wall Street?

I have seen resilience but today's performance of situational stocks such as KPS and KHSB tells me one thing. Either they are cornered stocks or Bursa has its own will irrespective of blue chips or speculative stocks. Or is it GLC's fund managers supporting the bursa ahead of our 50th Merdeka celbrations?

The CI was down some 15.25 points to 1263.70. Losers romped home 700 to 184 gainers. Volume still lacks breadth at 976 million shares worth RM 1.82 billion ringgits. Gainers were EON with an 18 sen gain, MBSB upped 16 sen while TaAnn topped up 15 sen. Losers were the who's who from BAT, Tanjong and Tenaga to Bursa, the stock itself. Their loses ranged from 35 to 50 sen.

The lodestar portfolio. Only Resorts went into positive territory, adding 2 sen to RM3.78. Genting and BJ Sports Toto both dropped 10 sen each to RM7.15 and RM5.10 respectively while Metronic lose half a sen to 16 sen. JAKS was one tough stock. Alamo-style, it stood firm and lost only 2.5 sen to 93 sen. RCE was quite strong losing 2 sen to 79.5 sen. Welli had certain buying support and finished off 2.5 sen to 97 sen.

Except for mild positive performances of the Dow Future at + 21 points and its sister indices, the S&P and NASDAQ, the whole world markets were swimming in the Red Sea. Will Bursa get out of the mire tomorrow or will it be be bogged down?

Anyway,celebrate Merdeka we will. But what can we be proud of after 50 years?

Heartsong

Alamo Tenacity

So what do you know? I thought Bursa will be lanyak. But it stood its ground. David Crockett, Jim Bowie, Travis stood their ground and unflinchingly defied Santa Anna. CI started on unsteady legs but soon managed to pare off loses to lose22.77 points to 1256.18. There were only 52 gainers compared to 786 losers. Volume was thin again at 543 million shares worth 981 million ringgits.

The rare gainers of substance was AHPlantations; taking on 32 sen. Must be one counter where there is no spread. The rest were puny gainers, tacking on less than 10 sen. These include Petgas with a 10 sen gain;Timwell with a 9 sen gain and MEASAT adding a paltry 5 sen. Losers were the giants like BAT which dropped 50 sen, Tanjong and Bursa which slided 40 sen each; Tenaga which dimmed down 35 sen and LPI which dropped 30 sen.

The portfolio was also slaughtered. Resorts finished overnight at RM3.76 but Genting lost huge by 20 sen to RM7.05. BJ Sports Toto, similarly dropped a clangering 24 sen to 4.96. Metronic gave up half a sen to 16 sen while Welli enjoyed itself at the seabed losing 3 more sen to 96.5 sen. Meanwhile RCE lost 3.5 sen to 78 sen while JAKS was off 3 sen to 92.5 sen.

Afternoon will likely be worse off.

Heartsong


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Another blitzkrieg?

Sub-prime can never die. It returns like Freddie. So expect price beheading this morning especially as the weak and panicky run for cover.

The worrisome thing;if it should happen, is contagion effect-which will possibly bring down the CI to Aug 17 level at the worse. The DBS connection is not good. It spells trouble because sub-prime is like religion-the veracity of it is anybody's guess. The elemental sub-prime has now been packaged and repackaged too many times that its underlying alloy strength is now questionable.

Dow Jones, the sifu leader of world stock market took a turn for the worse, dropping by a 280 points fall. Downgrades on financial stocks by rating agencies caused the loss of confidence and investors ran for cover.

I think our markets are going to be hammered until they cannot stammer. Nikkei will see a fall as yen-denominated business will take a kick in the groin. More yen unwinding will put more pressure on the yen and forced the hands of investment agencies to unwind forcing down US dollars,euros, the NZ and the Aud $. I foresee a disorderly financial market - a unnerving turmoil of tsunami size.

The picture above is the Hubble capture of a nebula known as the sombrero. Can it give protection and cover to panicky investors today?

So let us watch the second chapter is Sub-prime-The Return of Freddie.

Heartsong

Play Smart

A classic no-where market; that's the way to describe today's market. Those who played in the afternoon session are either lucky chaps or daredevils.

When all the world markets were swimming in red ink except Shanghai, which is no market barometer, Bursa played hero and ended up in plus territory- a minuscule 0.68 points to move the CI to 1278,95. I think a lot of funds have been selling from yesterday when Wall Street showed its weakness again. Losers thumped gainers 556 to 279. Volume was 970 million shares valued at RM1.4 billion.

The true blue did not really move but the funds sold down Bursa, Digi, Petgas and TaAn.All lost between 30-40 sen. On the rise were BAT with a RM1 leap; IOIProp jumping 80 sen and Tanjong, topping on 30 sen. Many Chinese call warrants were chased up greedily in speculative mood play.

The portfolio saw BJ Sports Toto taking pole position,adding another 5 sen to RM5.20. Always loved this counter. A true blue defensive stock. It weathered the sub-prime and the carrying trade and is now back at almost the peak. Genting continued hemorrhaging and lost another 10 sen to RM7.25 while Resorts was muted at its overnight level of RM3.76. JAKS added 2.5 sen to 95.5 sen while RCE slided a sen to 81.5 sen. Metronic was also at its overnight level of 16.5 sen.Good ole Welli took Module II in Advanced Scuba Diving and went below a ringgit to 99.5 sen, losing 2.5 sen.

Like the two female IT specialists preening themselves over on the flashy, silvery reflecting CDs,we too must look at the markets all around us before taking a position. I salute all those who went into the market today, when the east and the west was red.They are either prospering heroes or dead ducks.

Boon or bane-tomorrow will tell.

Heartsong

A Profitless Bursa

Today, Bursa will be in suspended animation.

You cannot make any money from this kind of market. Most blues are down or at their overnight level. Total disinterest is in the air. So the punters will call it a day. Tired watchers will leave the trading hall for better time-filling pursuits. Certainly more fulfilling.

The CI is currently down 6.08 points to 1272.19. The list of gainers and losers are a mixed bag, signalling there is no preference for any sector and rises and falls can come from anywhere. Volume was wafer thin at 163 million shares worth 171 million.

All speculatives are down because of tired holders and profit takers. KPS, KHSB and JAKS which led the market are all dead ducks. The photo above shows you the pipes that JAKS manufactured. Like them the market may be in some short storage situation until some wild news push up the market.

Let us look at how the portfolio fared as it can be used to benchmark buying decisions. Genting dropped 5 sen to RM7.30; Resorts was down by 2 sen to RM 3.74. As expected speculative RCE and JAKS went down. JAKS and RCE both dropped 1.5 sen to 81 sen and 91.5 sen respectively. Welli lost a sen to RM1.01. There are more buyers bargaining down the stock. Welli is a situational stock and only weak holders will let go. Let us see how the tug-of-war on Welli will fare. Metronics is at its overnight level of 16.5 sen while BJ Sports Toto dropped 10 sen to RM5.05.

Heartsong

Wide-eyed and Waiting

The window of opportunity to sell or to buy did not pass us by. Range trading makes suckers of us all. If you sell, Murphy will come by and push the price up. If you buy, Murphy will come by and push the price down. Best thing perhaps is not to do anything at all and watch Murphy at his mischiefs.

The CI closed at 1278.17 up 4.75 points. As I have so speculated, second grade blues did their rumbas and many who played these construction stocks are singing. Those who played speculatives got some money but less than what the brokers will get. KPS players as usual are grinning from ear to ear knowing that the counter will be pushed up to cushion the selling pressure for ESOS shares to be traded tomorrow.

Volume was 1.3 billion shares worth 1.7 billion ringgits. There were 531 gainers against 315 losers. Among gainers were Lion Div which perked up 55 sen, DFZ which topped up 42 sen, PPerdana which rialed in 42 sen and Muhibbah which put on 35 sen. Losers include BAT which was smoked out 50 sen, Cepco which dropped 38 sen, SAAG which fell 35 sen and RHB Cap which got short-changed by 20 sen.

The portfolio was mixed. BJ Sports Toto traded in a tight band all day to finish at RM5.15 for a 10 sen gain. I guess they are treasury buy-backs. Resorts was overnight at RM3.70 while Genting lost 5 sen to RM7.35. JAKS was 3 sen better at 93 sen while RCE added 1.5 sen to 83 sen. Metronic was 0.5 sen better at 16.5 sen while Welli lost 3 sen to RM1.02.

Dow futures look good while Asian and European markets performed. So what is wrong with Bursa?

Fatigue or constipation?

Heartsong

Range-play-
The Lock Horn-Paw Interlude

The above photograph was taken by Hubble. It is called the ant nebula. It symbolises the range play we will see in Bursa until a breakout occurs. Some days the bears will win; some day the bulls will.

As speculated, Bursa opened up well above 16 points and then, it appeared on the water-slide at Sunway Lagoon and slided down to a gain of an unimpressive 7.77 points to move the CI to 1281.29. Volume was 828 million shares valued at 1.04 billion ringgits. Gainers led losers 544 to 237. Gainers this morning was PPerdana, still kicking with the rial from the middle-east. It closed up 36 sen. Commerz, the political counter was up 30 sen, followed by the Kuok flagship PPB topping up 30 sen as well. WCT also gained 30 sen. Losers were Cepco sliding down by 32 cents, Kramat dropping 20 sen, Shell going down by 20 sen and Nestle down by a similar margin.

The portfolio was a mixed bag. BJ Sports Toto up 5 sen to RM5.10, JAKS added 4 sen to 94 sen while RCE was better 2 sen at 83.5 sen. Metronic, on a rare occasion, up a sen to 17 sen. At their overnight levels were Genting at RM7.40 and Resorts at RM3.70. Welli descended a sen to RM1.04 sen.

The afternoon will not be magical. I expect the market to be as lacklustre. Random walk or not, the market is range-bound like farm animals.

Sit tight and wait for a fairer trading day.

Heartsong

The First Post

This blog must begin with a beautiful smile. And who but Aishwarya Rai could give you us that singular pleasure by gracing the first post. Beautiful, charming, adorable-every one's dream girl.

We hope, this is an auspicious beginning to smarter trading on the bursa. That we should check our greed. That we should not be emotional with our stocks. That we should play smart and not take unnecessary risks.

We should be contented with little gains because from them huge mountains we beget.

O Lord, this day give us strength; give us vision and give us insights that we may know what to do and to remember to give thanks always to you, in good and in bad times.

For it is by your will O Lord that we may prosper.

Heartsong