Sour grapes are at most, sour. That's all.
Let's hope that when the property market crashes like what Nomura analysts had predicted, those who call others sour will not turn rotten (i.e. bankrupt)themselves.
Sour grapes are at most, sour. That's all.
Let's hope that when the property market crashes like what Nomura analysts had predicted, those who call others sour will not turn rotten (i.e. bankrupt)themselves.
That you don't have to worry.Originally Posted by Unregistered
As long as you remain well capitalised and don't over borrow, you can ride out the bumps in the market, if there are any.
What you can be sure is that the long term trend of property prices is up, for the simple reason that the value of money has to go down.
The devaluation of money is a fact of life you can never run away from.
Forget about next down turn, folk! Today ppty price is the future bottom level already. Forget the past and face tmrw with our new global city, Singapore.Originally Posted by Unregistered
We are now at the bottom of the new ppty cycle. The wheel is just to begin to spin.
You know, too sour also can kill.Originally Posted by Unregistered
Whatever that is reported in the newspapers is history. It was yesterday's, last month's, last quarters' news, outlook. What is happening now, this point will be reported tomorrow, next quarter, next year. It is true that the market is very quiet. It is true too, that people are struggling with more important issues like rising cost of living, even the expatriates living here. It will take a long while more before people have money to invest in illiquid properties. Those who need a quick exit will have to sell at a discount.
Even more useless than "yesterday's news" is "tomorrow's predictions".Originally Posted by Unregistered
Only "today" is meaningful.
Today, the market is very quiet.
Today, the market is holding steady.
Yesterday, the bulls mauled the bears.
Today, the bulls and bears are deadlocked.
Tomorrow, nobody knows.
Any "tomorrow's predictions" made by any individual is his own opinion, and hence meaningless.
Yes, economists are paid highly for their meaningless predictions.Originally Posted by Unregistered
Business confidence takes a dive
Business Times - 24 Mar 2008
BT-UniSIM survey shows companies gloomy about next six months, despite strong orders
(SINGAPORE) Business confidence in Singapore has slumped to its lowest level since end-2004, according to the latest business climate survey by The Business Times (BT) and SIM University (UniSIM).
While sales and profit figures were largely unchanged in the three months to Dec 31, 2007, prospects have fallen dramatically for the next six months, the poll of 128 companies revealed.
This was despite companies reporting a strong pipeline of orders and new business. Some 71 per cent of the firms polled have overseas businesses.
Chow Kit Boey, director of the quarterly BT-UniSIM survey, said: ‘I think the firms may be overly pessimistic because of the grim prospects in the US economy, accompanying volatile and weak stock markets and rising oil prices.’
She said that improved orders and new business numbers suggest that the Singapore economy would not suffer too badly in the first quarter of 2008, given the low growth rate a year ago and the largely successful air show in February.
The quarter marked the 17th successive one with positive net balances in sales and orders as well as new business, she added. ‘This implies that the slowdown could be mild. It appears that the economy could grow at a faster rate in Q1 2008 than in Q4 of 2007.’
Economists polled recently by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) pared their first-quarter growth forecast to a median 5.7 per cent from 7 per cent previously, slightly higher than the 5.4 per cent recorded in Q4 2007.
The BT-UniSIM survey showed that the business prospects net balance - the difference between the percentage of optimistic and pessimistic companies - fell to 20 per cent, from 39 per cent in the third quarter of the year. This was itself a sharp drop from an average of 57 per cent for the first half of 2007, showing how confidence has crashed in recent months.
The drop was particularly severe among large and local firms, whose net balances dropped by more than half from the previous quarter. But foreign firms were about as confident as they were in the preceding three months and, intriguingly, small firms were much more upbeat - net balance for the segment tripled to 26 per cent from 8 per cent.
The overall poor sentiment was partly balanced by healthy orders and new business numbers. The overall net balance - the difference between those reporting more orders or new business and those reporting fewer - rose slightly to 39 per cent, from 32 per cent in the third quarter.
But conditions varied widely across firms. Small companies reported a net balance of minus-one per cent, though still an improvement on the previous quarter (-12 per cent). Foreign companies recorded a net balance of 51 per cent, up from 26 per cent previously.
Among sectors, financial and business services was the star performer for the quarter. It had the highest net balances in sales, profits and orders, and new business.
Firms in the construction sector were the most confident of business prospects for the next six months for the eighth quarter running.
Foreign firms recorded the best performances for Q4, with the largest increases in net balances for sales, profits and orders, and new business. Local firms saw the biggest decline, owing partly to weaker profits, said Ms Chow.
And comparing overall and overseas sales, orders and prospects showed that domestic business activities were stronger in the fourth quarter. In the previous three months, businesses found better sales and orders overseas. But small and local firms still saw better prospects from their foreign operations, while foreign and large firms were more optimistic on the local market.
Vietnam is also fast climbing the charts as a favoured investment destination. China and India were the other frontrunners but ‘Vietnam has gained much popularity as an investment destination by almost all types of firms’, said Ms Chow.
The BT-UniSIM survey was launched in 1996 and is now in its 13th year.
Meaningless post too. Dont waste your time and ours.Originally Posted by Unregistered
Yes that's quite true.Originally Posted by Unregistered
I never cease to be amused by their "forecasts" which are almost always off the mark.
Last year they predicted a rosy year for 2008, then when the sub-prime hit, now they adjust their forecasts downwards.
So what's the use of their forecast?
Then you still reply to the meaningless post? You are even more meaningless.Originally Posted by Unregistered
wooooohahahahahaOriginally Posted by Unregistered
Monday March 31, 3:43 AM
Markets brace for slump in Japanese business confidence
A key survey of corporate Japan is expected to show that business confidence has plunged to a four-year low on worries about high oil prices, a stronger yen and a weak US economy, analysts predict.
The Bank of Japan's closely watched "Tankan" report, due out Tuesday, is likely to show companies are scaling back their profit forecasts and investment plans as a result of the tougher operating environment, they said.
"The deterioration of the profit environment, stemming from a slowdown in overseas economies and surging crude oil prices, as well as the appreciation of the yen, have dealt a huge blow to corporate sentiment," Mitsubishi UFJ Securities senior economist Tatsushi Shikano said.
"Reflecting a slowdown in overseas economies, some companies now face the need to reduce production to deal with unexpected rises in inventories," Shikano said.
Economists, on average, predict the headline index of confidence among major manufacturers slumped to 12 in March from 19 in the December Tankan survey of more than 10,000 companies, according to a survey by the Nikkei business daily.
That would be the lowest level since March 2004. Confidence has already fallen from a two-year high of 25 seen in December 2006 but it is still much higher than a low of minus 38 struck six years ago.
Sentiment among big non-manufacturers is expected to have deteriorated to a reading of seven from 16 in the December poll.
The indices represent the percentage of firms experiencing favourable business conditions minus the percentage of those seeing unfavourable conditions.
Japan's corporate sector has been a key driver of the recovery in the world's second largest economy after a decade-long slump.
Helped by a weak yen, companies have racked up record profits in recent years that allowed them to invest heavily in new equipment and factories.
But many firms are now looking to scale down capital spending to cope with an expected drop in earnings.
In mid-March, the dollar fell to a 12-year low of 96 yen, far below the level companies had been preparing for at the time of the December Tankan.
Economists are also expecting a worsening of sentiment in the March quarter among smaller companies, which employ most of Japan's workforce, due to growing profit concerns and sluggish domestic demand.
Japan's economy is on the mend after a slump stretching back over a decade, but sluggish consumer spending has raised concern that the country's export-led recovery is vulnerable to a global economic slowdown.
Although core inflation hit a decade high of 1.0 percent in February, Japan's central bank is seen as unlikely to raise its super-low interest rates from 0.5 percent any time soon, with some analysts even predicting a rate cut.
Goldman Sachs Securities chief economist Tetsufumi Yamakawa is predicting a rate cut by the Bank of Japan at one of its two meetings in April.
"The Tankan is likely to show an accelerated decline in sentiment across the broad front, forcing the BoJ to revise its economic view and scenario, which is already distant from the perception shared by the market," Yamakawa said.
The BoJ raised interest rates in 2006 for the first time in almost six years. It hiked rates again in February last year but has held them steady since then amid domestic political uncertainty and financial market turmoil.
Japan had been in a state of slump for the past 15 years.Originally Posted by Unregistered