Tuesday, December 30, 2014

PRAY HARD FOR MISSING AIR ASIA PLANEQZ8501

Indonesia expands search for missing AirAsia jet, U.S. sends warship

SURABAYA, Indonesia/JAKARTA (Reuters) - Countries around Asia on Tuesday stepped up the search for an AirAsia plane carrying 162 people that is presumed to have crashed in shallow waters off the Indonesian coast, with Washington also sending a warship to help find the missing jet.

Soelistyo, head of Indonesia's search and rescue agency, told local television the search area between the islands of Sumatra and Borneo would be expanded. The air force said authorities would investigate an oil spill sighted on Monday.

Authorities would also begin scouring islands in the area as well as land on Indonesia's side of Borneo. So far the focus of the search has been the Java Sea.

The Airbus A320-200 operated by Indonesia AirAsia lost radar contact in poor weather on Sunday morning during a flight from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore. The plane could be at the bottom of the sea, Soelistyo said on Monday.

What happened to Flight QZ8501, which had sought permission from Indonesian air traffic control to ascend to avoid clouds, is still a mystery.

Online discussions among pilots have centred on unconfirmed secondary radar data from Malaysia that suggested the aircraft was climbing at a speed of 353 knots, about 100 knots too slow in poor weather, and that it might have stalled.

Around 30 ships and 21 aircraft from Indonesia, Australia, Malaysia, Singapore and South Korea would search around 10,000 square nautical miles on Tuesday, officials said.

They said the sea there was only 50 to 100 (150 to 300 feet) metres deep, which would be a help in finding the plane, which was carrying mainly Indonesians.

The U.S. military said the USS Sampson, a guided missile destroyer, would be on the scene later on Tuesday.

The U.S. Defense Department said assistance to Indonesia "could include some air, surface and sub-surface detection capabilities".

"We stand ready to assist in any way possible," Pentagon spokesman Mark Wright said.

China's Defence Ministry said it had sent a warship to the South China Sea and planes "have begun preparatory work" for search operations.

FALSE ALARMS

There have been no confirmed signs of wreckage so far.

Officials said one of the possible oil slicks seen on Monday turned out to be a reef and that while searchers had picked up an emergency locator signal off the south of Borneo no subsequent signal was found.

The plane, whose engines were made by CFM International, co-owned by General Electric and Safran of France, lacked real-time engine diagnostics or monitoring, a GE spokesman said. Such systems are mainly used on long-haul flights and can provide clues to airlines and investigators when things go wrong.

The plane's disappearance comes at a sensitive time for Jakarta's aviation authorities, as they strive to improve the country's safety reputation to match its status as one of the airline industry's fastest growing markets.

It also appears to be a third air disaster involving a Malaysian-affiliated carrier in less than a year, further denting confidence in that country's aviation industry and spooking air travellers across the region.

Indonesia AirAsia is 49 percent owned by Malaysia-based budget carrier AirAsia.

Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 went missing on March 8 on a trip from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 passengers and crew and has not been found. On July 17, the same airline's Flight MH17 was shot down over Ukraine, killing all 298 people on board.

NO SIGN OF FOUL PLAY

On board Flight QZ8501 were 155 Indonesians, three South Koreans, and one person each from Singapore, Malaysia and Britain. The co-pilot was French.

U.S. law enforcement and security officials said passenger and crew lists were being closely examined but so far nothing significant had turned up and that the incident was still regarded as an unexplained accident.

The plane, which did not issue a distress signal, disappeared after its pilot failed to get permission to fly higher because of heavy air traffic, officials said.

Pilots and aviation experts said thunderstorms, and requests to gain altitude to avoid them, were not unusual in that area.

"The airplane's performance is directly related to the temperature outside and increasing altitude can lead to freezing of the static radar, giving pilots an erroneous radar reading," said a Qantas Airways pilot with 25 years' experience flying in the region.

The resulting danger is that pilots take incorrect action to control the aircraft, said the pilot, who requested anonymity.

The Indonesian pilot was experienced and the plane last underwent maintenance in mid-November, the airline said.

The AirAsia group, including affiliates in Thailand, the Philippines and India, had not suffered a crash since its Malaysian budget operations began in 2002.

At a crisis centre at the airport in Surabaya, Indonesia's second-largest city, anger grew among about 100 relatives.

"We only need clear information every hour on where they are going," said Franky Chandra, who has a sibling and three friends on the flight, referring to the search teams.

"We've been here for two days but the information is unclear. That's all we need."

(Additional reporting by Wilda Asmarini, Fransiska Nangoy, Cindy Silviana, Kanupriya Kapoor, Michael Taylor, Nilufar Rizki and Siva Govindasamy in JAKARTA, Al-Zaquan Amer Hamzah and Praveen Menon in KUALA LUMPUR, Saeed Azhar, Rujun Shen and Anshuman Daga in SINGAPORE, Jane Wardell in SYDNEY, Ben Blanchard in BEIJING, Tim Hepher in PARIS and Mark Hosenball, David Brunnstrom and Lesley Wroughton in WASHINGTON; Writing by Dean Yates; Editing by Michael Perry)



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Wednesday, December 17, 2014

Highest Paid Jobs in Malaysia According to Kelly Services

Highest Paid Jobs in Malaysia According to Kelly Services

Malaysia’s job market is robust.

I whatsapped EduSpiral and got the information  I needed about the university and course. He then arranged for me and my mother to meet up with APU counselors and to tour the campus as well. Li Jian, IT at Asia Pacific University
I whatsapped EduSpiral and got the information I needed about the university and course. He then arranged for me and my mother to meet up with APU counselors and to tour the campus as well.
Li Jian, IT at Asia Pacific University
Skilled professionals are in demand in Malaysia, with some industries being considerably more pronounced than others.

According to the Kelly Services 2014/2015 Malaysia Salary Guide , “the skilled talent pool in Malaysia is at 27 percent – far off from the estimated requirement of 45 percent to meet the national agenda of a high income nation by 2020.”

The good news is, with higher demand, comes increased standard of wages. In the past 12 months, there has been a spike in wages, with the banking and finance sector benefitting from the highest spike of 10 to 25 percent in monthly wages, followed by the sales and marketing sector which benefitted from 10 to 20 percent spike, the logistic and warehousing sector with a 10 to 15 percent increase, the engineering sector went up to 10 percent while information technology with five to 10 percent spike in wages.

The Malaysia Salary Guide also lists down a whole number of jobs with an indication of what the average salary range should be, according to placements made by Kelly Services Malaysia.

Highest-paying positions and industries (per month basis) as listed by Kelly Services Malaysia

Information Technology (IT) is a High Paying Job in Malaysia

IT is the industry with the most shortage and demand currently,” said Kamal Karanth, director of Kelly Services Malaysia.

IT stands as one of the highest-paid industries with programme directors as well as chief technology officers and chief information officers of 12-18 years having an earning capacity between RM22,000 and RM35,000 monthly.

Project directors, sales directors, and service delivery directors in the IT industry of the same experience level stand to earn anywhere between RM16,000 and RM25,000.

Engineering is one of the Top Paid Salaries in Malaysia

Another high-paying industry is engineering, with engineering managers of 8-12 years of experience earning a minimum of RM13,000 and a maximum of RM22,000. Utilities managers, another high-paying position can earn a minimum of RM16,000 and a maximum of RM21,000.

Sales and Marketing Professionals are Paid High Salaries in Malaysia

Coming into close competition with the engineering industry is none other than the universal money-making industry themselves. Heads of sales and marketing and sales directors with over 10 years of experience stand to rake in a minimum of RM12,000 and a maximum of RM25,000, while vice presidents of corporate strategy and planning of just seven to 10 years of experience are paid within the same range.

Human Resources (HR) is a Top Paid Position in Malaysia

Those in the Human Resource field also stand to make a rather decent living, with HR directors of over 15 years of experience having an earning capacity between RM15,000 to RM30,000. Senior HR managers of seven to 10 years of experience may earn anywhere between RM8,000 and RM18,000, while senior recruitment managers of the same experience can earn anywhere between RM10,000 and RM15,000 per month.

EduSpiral Consultant Services- Your Personal Online Education Advisor

Established since 2009, EduSpiral Consultant Services helps provide information and counselling on courses and universities
EduSpiral took us to visit APU and UCSI so that we can see the campus facilities and make a better decision about our future. Kian Yong (Mechanical Engineering) at UCSI University and Hong Ann (Software Engineering) at Asia Pacific University
EduSpiral took us to visit APU and UCSI so that we can see the campus facilities and make a better decision about our future.
Kian Yong (Mechanical Engineering) at UCSI University and Hong Ann (Software Engineering) at Asia Pacific University
in Malaysia. EduSpiral Consultant Services also represents MDIS Singapore and Hong Kong Polytechnic University.
EduSpiral Consultant Services represents the best colleges and universities in Malaysia offering a wide range of choices for students to choose from. These colleges and universities offer value for money in the quality of education and excellent facilities that you get.

Tuesday, December 16, 2014

Even Warren Buffett got hurt by oil prices By Jason Hall

Even Warren Buffett got hurt by oil prices

December 12, 2014: 10:09 AM ET

NEW YORK

Is Buffett ready to move on from his biggest "mistake" stock?


Berkshire Hathaway (BRKA) CEO Warren Buffett has established himself as one of the greatest investors and capitalists of our time. His every move and word is noted and analyzed, and for good reason: People can learn a lot about successful long-term investing through him.

 However, even the Oracle of Omaha has made his share of mistakes, and we can learn from those, too. According to the company's most recent 13-F filing, which discloses its positions in public companies at the end of each quarter, Buffett sold more shares of a company that he's been gradually selling out of since 2009. Let's take a closer look at this Berkshire holding. Chances are there's something we can all learn from the story.

Buffett's big mistake: Back in 2008, Buffett invested billions of dollars into major oil company ConocoPhillips. (COP) At the time, oil was at all-time high prices, and the world was at the doorstep of a major economic crisis. Here's how Buffett himself described his decision in his 2008 letter to shareholders:

"Last year I made a major mistake of commission (and maybe more; this one sticks out). Without urging from Charlie [Munger] or anyone else, I bought a large amount of ConocoPhillips stock when oil and gas prices were near their peak. I in no way anticipated the dramatic fall in energy prices that occurred in the last half of the year. I still believe the odds are good that oil sells far higher in the future than the current $40-$50 price. But so far I have been dead wrong. Even if prices should rise, moreover, the terrible timing of my purchase has cost Berkshire several billion dollars."

Here's what ConocoPhillips' stock has done since the quarter Buffett made the big buy:

Conoco Phillips



We are talking about five and a half years to recover, and at this stage, Berkshire's holding in ConocoPhillips has fallen to only 472,000 shares from nearly 85 million at the peak in 2008. In all, Buffett invested more than $7 billion in the company, and he had sold almost half of that stake at a major loss by 2010.

Related: Why Amazon.com CEO Jeff Bezos Embraces Failure

Today's ConocoPhillips is a different company: Berkshire did get some additional value from Buffett's investment. In 2012, ConocoPhillips spun Phillips 66 (PSX) out in a tax-free spinoff, and Berkshire ended up with more than 27 million shares of the midstream and petrochemicals giant.

Just last year, Buffett was able to work some more of his magic with those shares, trading around $1.4 billion worth of them back to Phillips 66 in exchange for Phillips Specialty Products, which Berkshire could then pair with its own chemical business, Lubrizol.

The beauty of this transaction? Because it was an asset swap, it was tax-free for Berkshire, which would have paid hefty capital gains had it sold those Phillips 66 shares on the open market.

Related: Social Security: 3 Things to Know Before Taking Benefits Early

As for ConocoPhillips, Buffett invested in a fully integrated major oil company, while the spinoff turned it into an exploration and production company. Frankly, this major transition of the business is likely one of the major reasons behind Buffett's years-long process of reducing Berkshire's holdings in the company. It's no longer the company he bought.

The most important lesson here? Even though the ConocoPhillips investment turned out to be a disaster for Berkshire, and I think Buffett will fully exit the investment in 2015, it's just a drop in the bucket that is the Berkshire portfolio. As of the most recent 13-F, the company held more than $107 billion in stocks, and the largest holdings are diversified across the financial, consumer goods, and tech sectors.

The company's largest exposure to an oil company is ExxonMobil (XOM), which is now down about 13% for the year. It's the largest of the integrated major energy companies and, by most accounts, the best-run and most conservative with its capital. ExxonMobil makes up about 3.5% of the Berkshire stock portfolio.

oil price drop



The point? Billion-dollar mistakes sound big, but it's all about the percentages. Berkshire's portfolio is fairly concentrated, with about 83% invested in the 10 largest holdings, but it's also a portfolio that gets new money on a regular basis.

Related: 10 Investment Lessons That Have Stood the Test of Time

Lessons learned:

The first lesson is that no investor is infallible -- we all make mistakes. There are two things that separate the best investors from the average:

Do you learn from your mistakes and those of others?

Do you focus on a workable investing process or get caught up in the short-term results?

Buffett didn't let a billion-dollar mistake cause him to change a process that has proved effective for decades of market-crushing returns. If you're going to follow Buffett, don't mimic his moves. Develop a long-term process that's focused on finding great companies. You'll buy your share of flubs like ConocoPhillips in 2008, but getting a 10-bagger, like American Express (AXP) has been for Berkshire, will cover up plenty of mistakes.

Jason Hall has written for The Motley Fool since 2012.



Wednesday, December 3, 2014

WHY STOCKS GO DOWN

 

from http://www.fool.com

Why Stocks Go Down

  • profits slipping, sales slipping
  • top executives leave the company
  • a famous investor sells shares of the company
  • an analyst downgrades his recommendation of the stock, maybe from "buy" to "hold"
  • the company loses a major customer
  • lots of people are selling shares
  • a factory burns down
  • other stocks in the same industry go down
  • another company introduces a better product
  • there's a supply shortage, so not enough of the product can be made
  • a big lawsuit is filed against the company
  • scientists discover the product is not safe
  • fewer people are buying the product
  • the industry used to be "hot," but now another industry is more popular
  • some new law might hurt sales or profits
  • a powerful company enters the business
  • rumors
  • no reason at all

Tuesday, December 2, 2014

A greatly disppointing Quarter from Kenanga

3QCY14 Results Review
A Greatly Disappointing Quarter
By Chan Ken Yew / kychan@kenanga.com.my
The FBMKLCI fell ≈50 points to retest its recent low of ≈1,765 yesterday after the just concluded corporate results season. While we have no doubt that this latest string of quarterly results showed great disappointment across the board, we also believe other unfavourable external factors such as:  sharp decline in crude oil prices, (ii) lacklustre CPO prices, and (iii) rapid weakening in Ringgit, were also the complicit culprits.
During the quarter, we saw the highest number of companies so far under our coverage delivering results,which were below expectations, amounting to 40% of the stocks under our coverage universe. Transportation & Logistics, Consumer MLM, Consumer Retail, Oil & Gas, Plantations, Gloves and Aviation saw significant downgrades (>5%) in our current financial year’s earnings estimates.
Consequently, our FY14E-FY15F core net profit growth estimates for FBMKLCI were revised to 1.4%-4.8%(from 4.9%-11.3% previously). In tandem with the weaker results and less bullish earnings growth prospect,our end-2015 Index Target has also been revised lower to 1,950 (from 1,980 previously) while end-2014 Index Target was lowered to 1,870 (from 1,910 previously). At 1,870, the FBMKLCI is expected to trade at 21.1x FY15PER while it is valued at 20.5x FY16 PER should we peg our index target at 1,950.
As market sentiment has turned weaker, we reckon investors should lower their “Buy On Weakness” (B.O.W.)zone to 1,775/60, representing c.8.5% discount to Consensus Index Target of 1,925/40.
Note that this support zone represents -1SD-level below the 5-year average discount of 5.5%. This support zone has proven resilient during the recent market selldown.
While we like construction and building materials as well as export-orientated sectors to leverage on the domestic economic growth, we prefer heavily sold down Oil & Gas stocks to capitalise on the recent sharpbdecline in their stock prices, as we believe certain Oil & Gas stocks still offer good bottom-fishingopportunities as values have started to emerge (even after earnings downgrades). We like (i) DAYANG (OP,TP: RM3.40), (ii) BARAKAH (OP, TP: RM1.62), (iii) PERDANA (OP, TP: RM1.61) and SKPETRO (OP, TP: RM4.24)to a certain extent. On the flip side, AIRASIA (OP, TP: RM2.802) could be a natural hedge against oil priceweakness.

For conservative investors, they may consider resilient sectors such as Telco, Power and Water
Utilities. Our OUTPERFORM calls in these sectors are PESTECH (TP: RM4.36), TENAGA (TP: RM14.65),YTLPOWR (TP: RM1.70) and PUNCAK (TP: RM3.99)
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