Buffett trumps S&P again after having lost his way for years

He’s returned to the Promised Land after wondering in the Wilderness.

Old economy stocks wot did it for him.

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Putin only hinting of going nuclear, the West has gone “nuclear”

Putin only puts Russian nuclear forces on high alert, after the West has already gone “nuclear”.

What a wimp.

The US, UK, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and the European Commission are blocking Russia’s central bank from using its roughly US$630bn stockpile of foreign reserves. This will make it difficult for the bank shore up the economy and shield it from the costs associated with its attacks on Ukraine.

It can only easily access its reserves of yuan.

What’s the point of reserves if access to them is blocked?

Putin a genius? He’s just another Trump, a Putin fan.

“Nyet”: Overseas fund managers to Putin

Or it’s another US plot to destabilise Russia?

Related: Russian markets tank while US markets say “What’s the big deal?”

Tiger’s going to cost more

Dolf van den Brink, Heineken’s chief executive, this week described brewers’ rising costs, as “off the charts”. Heineken owns the Tiger and Anchor brands.

And this was before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Russian markets tank while US markets say “What’s the big deal?”

S&P closed up 1.5% and NASDAQ was up 3.3% (OK, OK, they were down 2.6% and 3.4% earlier in the day).

The dollar index rose 0.8% as market stress drove up demand for the reserve currency.

Meanwhile celebrating Putin’s antics, the Moex index briefly fell 45% before recovering to close 33 % lower.

The Rouble fell to almost 90 to the dollar before recovering to 85.2.

Dealers were pricing Russian 10-year bonds with yields as high as 15% — up from less than 11% on Tuesday. (Wednesday was a public holiday)

No need for Fed to raise interest rates or tighten its easy money policy?

US equity markets are doing the dirty work for the Fed.

Why Russia has the EU by the balls

(Updated on 24 February 2024 at 6.20am with two charts on EU energy dependency.)

Many EU countries import most of their natural gas from Russia. The EU as a whole import around 38% of its gas from Russia. Germany around 67% of its gas from Russia.

That’s not all.

Blessed are the tech bro billionaires

for theirs is the kingdom of God. Why? Read the penultimate paragraph.

So, if you are young and a billionaire, you are the Elect of God?

Robbing Afghans to pay Afghans and Americans?

This looks pretty generous.

But last week,

President Biden has signed an order to split the seven billion dollars in frozen Afghan government assets held in the United States since the Taliban seized the country last August. Half will be used to settle compensation claims against the Taliban filed by American victims of terrorism. 

BBC Newshour

Being the Hegemon has its privileges. Any wonder why Xi and his sidekick Putin want their countries to become co-hegemons.?

Temasek: Win some, lose some

I couldn’t help but think of Temasek when I saw the first chart in an article on DBS. It owns controlling stakes in DBS and Stan Chart.

It has to thank the FT CEO of DBS (OK, OK, he’s now a citizen). The “T” stands for “Talent”. But then S’poreans deserve a break. For a long time, the “T” in FT stood for “Trash” when it came to the quality of DBS’s FT CEOs, two ang mohs and one ABC. One ang moh and the ABC came from JPMorgan. It specialised in corporate and investment banking, not consumer banking.

Gupta came from the consumer banking side of Citicorp.

Btw, if anyone is wondering about UOB’s price to book value, it’s 1.2, a shade below OCBC’s 1.3.

Gold regains its lustre

So much so that the relationship between gold and inflation-adjusted “real” interest rates is starting to weaken amid concerns about the economic outlook and rising prices. Usually, real rates are negatively correlated with gold. Not this year, as real rates have increased, the gold price has remained resilient.

Err I tot Bitcoin was supposed to have taken gold’s place? Sell Gold, Buy Bitcoin?

Related post: Bloodbaths galore this week/ BS about Bitcoin (Fyi, it’s now around US$39,000)

Lesson for PAP millionaire ministers

How to grow the economy with less FTs (where the “T” stands for “Trash” often with fake degrees).

Do what Yum China is doing: automating.

But don’t they love FTs from mamaland? And prefer to fix the Oppo? And raise GST?

Cash doesn’t produce a return

But holding cash allows traders to avoid volatility in other assets.

Another Wall St tornado for cowboys to ride

The Russell 2000

Why Wall St is a cowboy town

All the bronco riders have left the rodeos to ride the S&P and NASDAQ.

They are even outdoing Pecos Bill who rode a tornado

Forget bronco riding cowboys

Cowboys riding the S&P and NASDAQ broncos

“No reason to expect anything other than sustained, strong commodity prices for the foreseeable future”

So says Gary Nagle, the CEO of Glencore, the London-listed miner and commodity trader. Of course, he’s talking his book but that doesn’t mean he’s lying or wrong.

Time to buy US stocks?

And in particular tech stocks?

Global flows into ETFs focused on technology stocks — the US trump card and typically a highly popular sector — dwindled to just $400mn, while energy and utilities ETFs attracted a net $4.4bn.

FT

The real reason why SPH refuses to put Keppel’s offer to shareholders?

It costs money? Paper prices have gone up.

Asset manager Abrdn was recently forced to delay a vote on a £1.5bn deal, after it struggled to produce the printed documents it is required to send out to shareholders.

But could the real, real reason because there’s someone who may be contemplating paying a better price? SPH might be worth a punt as a risk arbitrage play as the downside is covered because it’s actually already a risk arb play. Read up the Cuscaden bid details before doing anything.

Background

SPH said the Keppel scheme’s cut-off date of Feb 2 has “come and passed, and not all of the scheme conditions set out… in the Keppel implementation agreement have been satisfied, nor has the Keppel scheme become effective in accordance with its terms”.

It also says that the implied value of the Cuscaden scheme consideration has remained superior to that of the Keppel scheme consideration.

Keppel is taking SPH to arbitration.

This arbitration will delay the EGM date to decide on what happens to SPH. Is SPH trying to delay the probable sale to Cuscaden because there’s someone who may be thinking of paying a better price?

Anti-vaxxer Goh Meng Seng regretting leaving S’pore

Or so I’m told by his friend. He’s even contemplating returning here from HK to hide from Covid-19.

He’s worried because

Hong Kong recorded 986 covid infections on Thursday, after reporting more than a 1,000 the day before, when it also saw its first covid-19 deaths in six months. The surge is despite the territory’s draconian restrictions, which are some of the most severe in the world. The health system is ill-equipped to deal with rising cases, with isolation wards already at 90% capacity.

Economist Expresso

And

Hong Kong reported 351 cases of covid-19 on Saturday, the highest daily toll since the pandemic began two years ago. The especially infectious Omicron variant has proved especially difficult to contain, despite the territory’s impressive previous record of keeping covid at bay through the use of strict quarantine and social-distancing rules and limits on immigration. Cases are expected to rise further after families mingled during the recent lunar new year.

Economist Expresso

He’s scared because it seems like him, most elderly Hongkies refused to be vaxxed. Younger Hongkies vax rates are comparable with Western rates. Only 30% of Hongkies aged over 80 are vaxxed.

Related post: Goh Meng Seng can’t hide from Covid-19

How millionaire ministers are solving the inflation problem

Because S’pore is an open economy, inflation threatens household budgets. Inflation is driven by disease-induced supply-chain foul-ups, and rising global food, commodity prices and energy prices.

Singapore Inflation Rate In 2021: Here’s How Much Prices Of Everyday Goods And Services Have Increased

The solution: raise GST by 2%age points.

OK, OK there’s some “Ownself pay ownself” via GST rebates etc. But they are “peanuts”.

Different take: Betting strength of US recovery will outlast rapid policy tightening

Signs bond market signals room for Fed to raise rates without stalling economy?

Contrarian investors say five-year US Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (Tips) indicate that inflation would recede to less than 3% in five years.

Longer term Tips suggest that markets are expecting the Fed to succeed in pushing inflation back towards its 2% target.

Forget bronco riding cowboys

Ride the NASDAQ

Another ang moh CNY greeting

https://www.facebook.com/watch?v=328771412501711

Hybrid CNY greeting

Got this:

Related posts:

Another year of “Bai Du Bu Qin” not “Gong Xi Fa Cai”

Modern CNY greetings (Cont’d)

Modern CNY greetings (Cont’d)

Further to Another year of “Bai Du Bu Qin” not “Gong Xi Fa Cai, first time I received a Christian (OK Roman Catholic) card

And a “Hallmark” styled CNY card.