Commodities
Effective Dec 2014, Malaysia scrapped decades-old fuel subsidy and the prices of RON-95, RON-97 petrol and diesel have been based on a “managed float system”. It’s been 15 months now since the implementation and so far so good. Malaysians can proudly say they can survive without subsidy, even though the (subsidy) money came from taxpayers […]
... written on Mar 02 2016Does China own South China Sea so much so that nobody, including the supposedly superpower United States, dares to retaliate – militarily – when Beijing happily parked some HQ-9 air defence missile system on Woody Island, the largest of the Paracel Islands in the South China Sea, which is also claimed by Taiwan and Vietnam? […]
... written on Feb 19 2016Oil prices, both Brent and WTI, are above US$30 a barrel today. The price fluctuations, nevertheless, have been extremely volatile. Thankfully it hasn’t breached below US$20 a barrel. It would be a total chaos if the price goes below that level. But shall we conclude the worst is over on oil apocalypse? Not so fast. […]
... written on Feb 18 2016During the 1997-98 Asian Financial Crisis, then-Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad went berserk and accused everyone except himself for bankrupting corporations in Malaysia. He tried to bailout his cronies, including his own eldest son Mirzan Mahathir’s Konsortium Perkapalan Bhd which had accumulated RM1.6 billion in debt. But there wasn’t enough money to go around. Outrages, Mahathir […]
... written on Jan 27 2016He’s worth a staggering US$24.5 billion (£17.23 billion; RM106.37 billion) based on Forbes’ estimation. He survived the Nazi-occupation of Hungary and fled the regime as a refugee for 15-years hence he has a soft spot for refugees currently flocking to the European Union. He worked as a railway porter and waiter in London before becoming […]
... written on Jan 22 2016China announced on Tuesday that its 2015’s economy grew 6.9%, matching economists and analysts’ expectation. The problem is nobody believes the Beijing-endorsed figures. That wasn’t the real economy – argue investor, economist, analyst and specialist. China has simply cooked a number that people wanted to see and hear. Instead, they believe China’s National Bureau of […]
... written on Jan 20 2016Remember the unbelievable predictions that crude oil would go to US$10 / barrel (cheaper than water) and gasoline would go for US$1 / gallon? Well, forget them because it’s already happening even though officially the crude WTI and Brent are trading above US$20 / barrel. However, the fact that both crude oil prices have gone […]
... written on Jan 19 2016Are you in the oil and gas (O&G) industry? If you’re, then you should know that your job is on the line. Once a prestigious job where the pay, bonus and perks were the envy of your schoolmates, jobs with giant O&G company aren’t that secure anymore. British BP announced plans on Tuesday to slash […]
... written on Jan 13 2016Gas at US$2 was what people were screaming and hoping for last year. Today, the average price of gasoline in the United States is below US$2 a gallon, or US$1.967 / gallon to be precise. While some Americans, depending on their geographical location, are rejoicing over the lower gasoline price, some are betting and praying […]
... written on Jan 11 2016First, the good news – China didn’t use the word “devaluation” like it did back in August 2015. The bad news – China secretly devalues its Yuan / Renminbi and as a result everything you could think of – stock markets, currency exchange and even oil prices – is going haywire. China’s central bank […]
... written on Jan 07 2016
