Focus

Video interview of Warren Buffett in 3(1 hr) parts:



Google video : Heard it from the man




Focus.




Cheers
Niversphere.

Personal Thought Inspired By Buffett's Act Of Charity

Everyone is entitled to dream. To dream big, to feel the adrenaline of staying alive. Buffett lived his dream and also mine. I thought of distributing my wealth when I am old as Buffett and only sufficient amounts to my children. I stopped talking to friends about this as they would reply "You siao ah".

Personally, I am not a person easily swayed by other people's opinions. I lived my own life and so do they. It's easy to fall victim to the symptom I call "commander", giving orders on how others should live their own life.

That is really what I wanted to do, if I ever to be as successful as Warren that is. Success is relative. Just do your best.

Buffett has for decades declared his intention to donate his wealth to philanthropy unlike his friend Mr Willam Gates. I think I can relate to why that is so. A measure of wealth is how long you can substain your current lifestyle comfortably without any form of active income.

Have you ever wondered why the poor remained poor? Because they are poor. Huh ? You may say but let me elaborate on it. Let say you have less than $1000 dollars in your bank account or say less than $500 in your bank.(if you are those in below $500, hey you are donating $2 to the bank on "admin" charges, $2*12 = $24 ; $24/$500 * 100% = 4.8%P.A!! and assuming principal of $500 throughout. The bank is never going to offer you that rate even for your FDs. Compounding it and well be you know maths dont you.) I bet you would not even care a hood to fork out that $600 dollars for say the lastest phone in the market. But why? That is because to be rich, you had to feel rich first. To be rich is not what many imagined to be, living lavishly and using sharkfin for brushing teeth. In fact what I observed from rich pals are they are just like you and me but only that they can afford the occasional lavish treats. Deep down they are really misers, like the Uncle Scrooge. Haha. When you are there, you want to maintain at that wealth level and feel motivated to earn more and keep the number of digits running. You feel miserable when you over spend on somethings. Maybe Buffett overdone the feel rich factor. (shrugs shoulders)

The government recently released a new series of personal finance education program on Channel U. Quite a decent attempt at least, but not good enough. Action is the keyword, involve the people that really need it, not just celebrities.


Warren and all other successful people in life did one thing, enjoy doing what they like to do. I wish I could do that too, I know I can.

Take this with you from the Sage of Ohama,
"I Know what I want to do, and it makes sense to get going"
~ Warren Buffett

“为何指纹只长在手心而不是在手背，那有可能是老天爷要我们把命运掌握在手里“

Video Links:








Cheers
Niversphere.

Technical Chart Analysis on HengXin By Quest.

A little help from Quest and he did his analysis on HengXin Technology.





The chart can be viewed here 21st Century Quest!


Thanks Quest.





Cheers
Niversphere.

Singapore firms must not rush blindly into M&A deals: PwC By Wong Choon Mei, Channel NewsAsia

SINGAPORE : In their quest to internationalise, Singapore firms must prioritise which markets to move into first.

That is the advice from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).

It says Singapore firms should not rush into acquisitions just for the sake of extending their regional footprint.

They should rather seek value through a patient and strategic selection process.

The mergers and acquisitions (M&A) market in Asia is growing fast, thanks to the sanguine global economy and burgeoning corporate wealth.

Last year, the value of M&A deals transacted in the region totalled US$38.7 billion.

Here in Singapore, firms too have shown keen interest to expand - not just domestically but also regionally.

And PricewaterhouseCoopers says this is where they have to be cautious and avoid over-aggressive moves.

"The markets are getting pretty efficient all over the world. So if you spring a deal anywhere, but can't earn back the cost of capital on the investment that you're making, you'll be negatively impacted no matter where you are. And if you can show, anywhere in the world, that you can actually increase the spreads between your return on capital and cost of capital, you'll be rewarded by investors anywhere," said Dr Mark Sirower, partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers.

According to PwC, most acquirers in an M&A transaction lost shareholder value, while sellers usually gained.

This is because firms tend to lose sight of the basics during the hunt for market share.

It says the keys to any successful merger are prudent pricing, business synergy and the ability to deliver upon integration.

"That's to basically understand the markets they are looking at. It's about understanding how their customers buy in those markets, how their customers' buying decisions are different across markets, what the underlying markets' growth rates are and what their competitors can do," said Dr Sirower.

"Some markets are going to have stronger competitors than other markets. So at the end of the day, I want to prioritise the market, I'm not going to go in everywhere at the same time. So I want to find those markets that have the capabilities," he added.

OCBC and DBS are among some of the top Singapore firms that launched high-profile M&A bids this year.

- CNA /ls

Article excerpted from:
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporebusinessnews/
view/217217/1/.html

Cheers
Niversphere.

HengXin Technology

HengXin Technology is a relatively new listed company in SGX. HengXin core business is in the manufacturing of radio frequency coaxial cables for mobile and telecommunications equipments in the PRC. HengXin Technology has a strong research and development base. Its strategic location allows the company to tap into the raw talents from Shanghai Cable Research Institute and Zhejiang University, Electronics Information Technology and System Analysis Institute to help improve and innovate new products for the company. So far, the company holds 3 patents and 5 pending patents from the 27 products they have developed. This is an impressive figure.
Coaxial cables find its many uses in (1) Outdoor wireless mobile signal coverage, (2) Indoor wireless mobile signal coverage, (3) Wireless mobile coverage in underground railways and tunnels, (3) Cable television network systems and (4) Broadband network access.

Hengxin Technology recently announced that they were awarded a contract worth 119 RMB million from China Mobile Communications Group Corporation and completion is expected by 30 Sept 2006. The contract involves supplying RF frequency coaxial cables of about 3100 kilometres and telecommunciations equipments to 31 cities and provinces in China. By no means, a huge contract to Hengxin Technology and demostrates its executionary capabilities. A side track is that 30,000 kilometres is the annual production capability of HengXin, which is around 10% for this contract alone.

HengXin Technology as noted by its directors are relatively able to buffer any flucuations in copper prices as they can easily passed on the cost to their customers. This to me is rather dubious.

Looking forward, HengXin Technology aims to get a slice of the huge mobile communications pie with the would be implementing 3G network in China. Currently, mobile penetration is only 30%. Hengxin Technology’s comprehensive sales and distribution network has helped to attract and maintain its wide customer base comprising major telecommunications companies in the PRC including 24 out of 30 branches of China Unicom, and 20 of 31 subsidiaries of China Mobile; seven major telecommunications equipment manufacturers such as Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd and ZTE Corporation; as well as 10 provincial cable television networks in the PRC.

HengXin Technology is going for vertical integration.The Group intends to expand its product range to include accessories like connectors and antennas. Plans are underway for the Group to commence production of connectors for RF coaxial cables by 4Q2006.

At current share prices of 0.51, HengXin Technology is trading at around single digit 9x FY06 PE. HengXin closest peer Andrew Corp is trading at around 25x.

Based on my DCF discount model, I derived a fair value of S$0.69 for HengXin Technology. This represents a cool 35% discount from current share price of S$0.51.


Cheers
Niversphere.

=========================================
Please read the prospectus and perform your analysis before making any investment decision. The above does not constitute a recommendation to apply for this company. I will not be liable for any losses incurred by anyone who invests based solely on the above-mentioned information

Website Introduction ::...

This article is to share with you a decent value investing blog and I personally subscribed to his podcast. Though he speaks in a rather monotonous tone but its the information embedded in that is valuable. Talk about dedication.


Gannon On Investing


His podcast site:

http://feeds.feedburner.com/gannononinvesting/valueinvestingpodcast

or

http://www.gannononinvesting.com/podcast/




I would appreciate it if readers can share some informative site by adding some comments.


Cheers
Niversphere.

拼搏 - 就是要你拼， 也要放手一搏

Jim Rogers Says China's Stock Market, Agriculture Set to Boom:Bloomberg

June 26 (Bloomberg) -- Jim Rogers, who joined George Soros to start the Quantum hedge fund in the 1970s, said China's stock market will boom in the next few years because the economy is improving and the government is encouraging investment in stocks. Tourism, agriculture, energy and airlines are among the areas where shares will surge, said Rogers, 63, who started investing in Chinese stocks at end of 2005 and plans to buy more. China's economy doubled in size over the past decade, overtaking the U.K and France to become the world's fourth-largest economy in 2005.

``Over the next few years, China's stock market will be one of the best in the world,'' Rogers told a forum in Beijing on June 24. ``I've sold out of many stock markets in the world. I have been buying Chinese stocks. If the China market goes down, I would hope to buy more.'' China's Shanghai Composite Index has gained 39 percent this year and the Shenzhen Composite Index has advanced 50 percent, making them among the 10 best performers this year of the world's 80 major equity markets tracked by Bloomberg. The government's success in disposing of more than $200 billion of non-tradable stock has helped to fuel the rally.

China also ended a yearlong ban on share sales last month to attract bigger companies to domestic markets, now dominated by smaller, state-owned manufacturers. So far, 40 so-called qualified foreign institutional investors, including Citigroup Inc. and Fortis, have been allowed to invest in a combined $6.895 billion in mainland stocks and bonds. The nation's stock market turnover in May jumped 80 percent from the previous month to a record 715.8 billion yuan ($89 billion), the China Securities Journal said on June 18, citing the China Securities Regulatory Commission.

Real Estate

Still, not all Chinese stocks will do well, and Rogers expects real estate to suffer. ``The government is trying to cut back and ease speculation,'' he said. ``The only thing is they haven't gone far enough yet.'' China in the past two months has adjusted loan, tax and land policies aimed at curbing property prices, including raising the minimum down payment for larger apartments. Real estate investment, which accounts for a quarter of total investment, rose 21.8 percent in the first five months, from a year ago. Rogers correctly predicted a bull market in commodities that began in 1999 and helped to send oil to a record and gold to a 26-year high. He has written about his travels across China and the rest of the world by motorcycle in the books ``Investment Biker'' and ``Adventure Capitalist.'' He also wrote the book ``Hot Commodities.''

Fortunes

Rogers said if he looks for new opportunities in commodities today, he would start with agriculture. ``I think there will be fortunes made in agriculture in the next decade.'' He is looking at cotton, coffee, wheat, soybeans and sugar. Cotton futures have risen about 6 percent in the past month because of concern over drier whether. Still, they are trading 53 percent below $1.15 a pound, reached in 1995. While cotton and coffee have been gaining, prices for copper, zinc, and gold have declined from records in the past month.

``Agricultural prices are historically very, very low,'' Rogers said. ``Inventories are the lowest in 34 years. We haven't even had a major worldwide drought in many years.'' Agricultural prices will also gain because China's demand has surged compared with 25 years ago, and the nation is losing farmlands, Rogers said. ``In Beijing, you now see a lot of restaurants. You wouldn't see that many 25 years ago,'' he said. Rogers told the audience at the conference organized by the Beijing University that the best advice he can give on investing is ``do your own homework.'' When asked what his strategies are, he said: ``When I find something cheap, when I think there are fundamental changes and things might get better, I buy.'' ``Supply and demand are out of balance for the commodities market and that's where the bull market is,'' Rogers said. ``All commodities over the next decade will be much higher.''

$2b e-govt masterplan launched

The Business Times, Amit Roy Choudhury, 31 May 2006

S'pore players who develop e-govt solutions will retain IP rights and get help to export them.

(SINGAPORE) In a move that is expected to boost the infocomm industry, the government yesterday announced a $2 billion iGov2010 masterplan under which it will work with local players to co-create, develop and export e-government solutions.

In addition, it will allow them to retain ownership of the relevant intellectual property (IP) to enhance their business and export opportunities. Players welcomed this move, saying it should boost infocomm exports.

To run over five years, iGov2010 will introduce innovations like a single SMS (short message service) number for all government services.

Unveiling the plan yesterday, Raymond Lim, who will today relinquish his posts of second finance minister and minister in the Prime Minister's Office, said the government aims to transform back-end processing to achieve front-end efficiency and effectiveness. Mr Lim takes over from Yeo Cheow Tong as Transport Minister.

iGov2010, or integrated government, builds on two previous plans - the e-Government Action Plan I (eGAPI) launched in 2000 and eGAPII launched in 2003. The government spent about $1.2 billion and $1.3 billion respectively on these three-year plans to develop e-services for citizens and businesses.

Wu Choy Peng, deputy chief executive of the Infocomm Development Authority (IDA) and the government's chief information officer, said iGov2010 will facilitate the growth of private sector IT through partnerships in innovative projects.

'Public agencies will collaborate with the infocomm industry in the co-creation, development and export of iGov solutions,' Ms Wu said.
She said that in many economic sectors the government is either the regulator, dominant supplier or dominant consumer. 'So in such sectors, what the government does internally can potentially have a lot of effect on the entire sector.'

An example of this is TradeXchange, a project by Singapore Customs, the Economic Development Board and IDA, which aims to transform the trade and logistics sector. 'We used what was essentially a government function... to create something that can potentially transform the entire trade and logistic sector,' Ms Wu said.

Similar sectoral transformation projects will be implemented under iGov2010.

Reacting to iGov2010, NCS chief executive Chong Yoke Sin said her company is well-placed in terms of expertise and experience in developing solutions such as My.eCitizen to create best-in-class solutions.

'Ultimately, these same solutions would have to be tweaked for foreign governments for export . . . In this regard, we applaud the government's thrust to release IP to the industry,' Dr Chong said.

Singapore Computer Systems president and chief executive Tan Tong Hai said iGov2010 is good news for his company because it is easier for governments to sell to other governments and to market 'Made-by-Singapore' solutions as a whole. 'The 'Made-by-Singapore' branding is very important, especially with Singapore being showcased as a leader in e-government solutions,' Mr Tan said.
CrimsonLogic's CEO Leong Peng Kiong said: 'To be able to export the IP for innovative e-government solutions is certainly a huge shot in the arm for local companies like ourselves.'

Stephen Lim, chairman of the Singapore infocomm Technology Federation (SiTF) noted that while there have been previous transfers of IP from the government to industry, iGov2010 institutionalises this arrangement. 'It makes it much more easier for industry and government agencies to collaborate - it's a positive act for the industry,' Mr Lim said.

The iGov2010 plan will revamp My.eCitizen and develop My.eBusiness portals to cater to specific customer segments or individuals. It will also increase the number of CitizenConnect Centres from five to 25.

According to IDA's Ms Wu, guidelines will be developed to help agencies present clear and useful information online and create new consultation spaces for business, young people and overseas Singaporeans.

She also said the government will implement a Unique Establishment Identifier (UEI) for establishments in Singapore, including companies, businesses, societies and non-profit organisations.

Similar to the NRIC number for individuals, the UEI for establishments will reduce the number of identifiers that establishments have to use and will provide a common means of identifying them.

The Indomitable Human Spirit

Xiaodoudou

Cancer has taken a few of my loved ones away before. This blog entry is dedicated to her, a stranger she may be. Her indomitable human spirit against cancer remains. Cherish Today.



Cherish Today
----------------------------------------

Take each day as it comes, Life is stressful enough.

Do not look back and grieve over the past,
There's nothing much you can do about it.

Do not worry about the future,for it has yet to come.

As long as it is called Today, Cherish it.

This day as if it was your last, will find each day worth living for.




Regards
Niversphere.

China Stocks Here Should Not Be Valued Like BOC - The Straits Times

22 May 2006
by Goh Eng Yeow

Investors should question if such debutants will pay off in thelong run MUCH hand-wringing and doomsaying accompanied last week's plunge in the local stock market, along with other regional bourses, as a series of factors, including Wall Street's sudden nosedive,
unnerved investors.

Still, despite the 6 per cent correction suffered by the Straits Times Index (STI) since it hit a record high of 2,659.65 points on May 3, most long-term blue chip i nvestors are still smiling, though not quite as broadly, as the STI has more than doubled in the past three years.

Sadly, the same cannot be said for those who had made heavy bets on recently listed China penny stocks - and the hand-wringing
and doomsaying may well ring a little more true for these investors.

A check with financial portal, Shareinvestor.com, shows that many suffered double-digit losses in percentage terms last week alone.

Somehow, nervousness over the likelihood of more interest rate hikes in the United States has finally shaken investors here to
their senses to question seriously whether betting on such debutants will pay off in the long run.

It may also be no coincidence that the explosion in interest in China stocks coincided with the biggest commodities boom in the
past 30 years.

Both are fuelled by a massive inflow of 'hot' money from hedge funds, now estimated to have anything between US$1.2 trillion and
US$1.5 trillion (S$1.9 trillion and S$2.4 trillion) at their command worldwide.

But as recently as last November, China stocks here were still languishing in the doldrums in a hangover of oversupply and
lacklustre trading interest, after the near collapse of oil trader China Aviation Oil in late 2004.

But then came a rekindling of the love affair between China plays and fund managers here, starting with the purchase by US
investment group Templeton in December of just over 5 per cent of soya bean-based food and beverage maker Celestial NutriFoods.

Other fund managers, especially those running hedge funds awash with petrodollars, were believed to have followed suit.

Heavy bets were placed on Chinese IPOs, especially those linked to commodities, foodstuff, or bio-fuel, whose major shareholders were barred from selling any shares during the first six months of listing.

Recently, however, while global equity markets dived on interest rates jitters, Templeton slashed its stake in Celestial by a third,
raking in a tidy profit, since the share price has more than quadrupled in the past six months.

This raises a big question as to whether other fund managers will do the same with their holdings of China stocks.

While Templeton fund manager Mark Mobius maintained that the sale of Celestial shares was to give his fund company 'liquidity'
to pursue other investments, billionaire Richard Elman, the boss of global supply chain manager Noble Group, was more candid
on what he described as the 'disconnect' between realities - surging commodity prices and the overheating China economy.

In his usual folksy style, he described the hundreds of 'patently ridiculous apartment blocks, vacant shopping malls, and never to
be occupied factories' he saw in China as a 'fairyland'.

And he recounted riding on a 'massive, super-slick steel hungry Maglev train that is 95 per cent empty and operates only
sporadically' - all classic symptoms of a developing bubble economy.

Herein lies the catch. If China takes steps to tame its grossly overheated economy and cool rampant property development - a key
source of global commodity demand - it will hit the businesses of many Chinese firms very hard.

In many recent Chinese listings, ordinary investors may face a double blow from a possible sale of shares by both hedge funds and
pre-IPO investors who will soon be released from the lock-up period imposed on them when their firms were listed.

Many of these pre-IPO investors secured their shares at a fraction of the IPO issue price. This means that even if the stock prices
of these firms fall, by say, half, they will still reap a handsome profit when they sell off their entire holdings.

That said, investors should ask themselves whether they should value every Chinese IPO here, as though it is in the same league
as a Bank of China (BOC) listing.

BOC, which is tapping the markets for US$10 billion, is a play on China's striking economic growth, with 11,000 branches and
200,000 employees reaching all parts of China, besides controlling 65 per cent of Hong Kong's second-largest banking group.

The froth from BOC's impending IPO may have rubbed off on the China IPO market here.

Just think: As recently as early December, market sentiment on China was so sour that the boss of one Fujian plastic pipe-maker
was willing to list his company at a mere four times price-earnings ratio (PE).

Yet, only five months later, valuations of China IPOs have almost doubled.

Fibreglass products maker, Midsouth Holdings, the 100th Chinese firm to be quoted here, listed recently at about seven times PE,
and currently trades at 8.7 times PE.

The question to ask here is whether there has been such a big fundamental change in the Chinese economy to warrant a sharp
jump in valuations of its small and medium-sized firms.

Sure, there is vast potential for growth among many of these companies. But they do not have the scope of BOC and should not be
valued like one.

Some have also argued that Chinese stocks here may also benefit from China giving the go-ahead to its US$25 billion state-owned
pension fund to invest overseas.

But most of this money is likely to find its way only to the best blue chips among Chinese firms listed abroad, and may skip
Singapore altogether.

So, wise investors should track the China scene with prudence, given the turbulence experienced by global markets. Those hoping
to hitch a ride to riches via China stocks had better be prepared for some very nasty bumps.

China To Pace Trade In Carbon Credits Foreign Investors To Pay Mainland Firms To Cut Back On Greenhouse Gases Output

South China Morning Post
23 May 2006

China's faltering efforts to clean up the environment stand to get a big boost from foreign investors eager to pay mainland power
plants and factories to reduce pollution in lieu of spending far more to cut emissions at home.

Over the next six years, China is expected to become world's biggest supplier of greenhouse gas emission rights under the terms of the Kyoto Protocol to the UN treaty on climate change. Since these rights are transferable, traders predict a large market for this unusual kind of security will develop.

According to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change website, China is expected to generate 16.61 million carbon emission reduction units annually up to 2012, or 30.67 per cent of the global total from registered projects. One unit equals one tonne of carbon dioxide emissions.

Since only seven projects have been registered so far, or just 3.83 per cent of the global total, many more are clearly in the pipeline.
Indeed, 46 mainland projects have been approved, involving 50.94 million carbon emission reduction units, according to data from the National Development and Reform Commission which must sign off on the projects before they can be submitted to a third party and registered with the UN.

They include hydro, wind and biomass power generation as well as waste heat and gas recycling projects.

Developers of registered projects that reduce pollution or produce clean energy earn so-called carbon credits that they can then sell
to polluters faced with mandatory emission-reduction targets in other countries. Often it is far cheaper to achieve a given amount of pollution reduction by investing in projects in more polluted emerging market countries such as China than by cutting emissions at facilities in more advanced economies where stricter controls are already in place.

Since the US has refused to accede to the terms of the UN pact, most of the potential buyers of credits are in rich European countries, which have committed themselves to cutting emissions by at least 8 per cent to 10 per cent from 1990 levels by 2012. The goal is to slow down, if not avert, global warming.

Many European power companies have installed scrubbers to filter out easier to control pollutants and the cost of achieving the next level of pollution reduction would be far higher, said Thorsten Ansorg, managing director of Noble Carbon Credits, a unit of energy, agriculture and industrial products trading and logistics firm Noble Group.

Despite China's late entry into the carbon credit market, the government has caught up fast. Beijing has clarified its regulatory regime and is considering imposing a pollution tax in a bid to give polluters more incentive to invest in emission controls.

"The Chinese market could become the main supplier of certified emission rights by 2012 but it still has a long way to go," Mr Ansorg said. "The potential is there, the willingness is there as well as political support and readiness of the companies to [supply]."

However, financing is a key hurdle. "You see many projects being proposed but the majority do not have financing," said Toru Kabo,
the Asia Development Bank's clean development mechanism specialist. "So one may enter into a contract with a [credit] buyer and
the project may never happen."

Last November, the bank provided US$15.8 million for a project in Liaoning province that collects methane from coal mines and channels it to households and industry for use as fuel. It is also seeking credit buyers for other projects.

Good Company Buy Back Their Own Stock?

If you find the topic interesting, read Here





Cheers
Niversphere.

Book Reviews

Excellent website to share with you

Focus Investor.com: The Focus Few

I read quite a number of investment related books before and little numb up there. however this website contains a wealth of information gathered in a single website. Gosh, if only I had stumpled upon it earlier and I am sharing it with you here.


"To be the Best, Learn from the Best"


My ratings for this website: EXCELLENT












Cheers
Niversphere.

Noble Group

Just added more Noble Group after looking through my watchlist and could not resist the value of this company in the long term.


Previous Posts On Noble Group:

Undervalued Business Model




Cheers
Niversphere.




=========================================
Please read the prospectus and perform your analysis before making any investment decision. The above does not constitute a recommendation to apply for this company. I will not be liable for any losses incurred by anyone who invests based solely on the above-mentioned information

Memory Devices :: Just A Step Away From Being Top Of The World

Memory Devices( MDL ) has a relatively short history from 2001, however its achievements thus far is nothing short of amazing. From a small office in Dongguan to a company acquiring 100% of TwinMos Technology. I remember vaguely that MDL share price was lingering around its IPO price for some time. Too bad then, I did not gave it a second look.

MDL is principally engaged in the research and development of solid state memory, DRAM and Flash memory and is widely used in consumer electronics such as MP3 players and thumbdrives. The is also a secular trend that consumers are upgrading or fitting their devices with higher memory capacity with after purchases of digital devices like digital camera and handphones. As the pixel on digital cameras or handphone camera increase, the need for higher portable memory increases. There is also rumors that Microsoft is launching its own version of PSP. However, that is still pure speculation. Without doubt is the increase demand for portable memory like Flash.

MDL aims to be a No.2 market player in the solid state memory products industry which, in according to source from iSuppli and compiled by DigiTimes - April 2005, is dominated by only one strong player with revenue of US$2.45 billion in 2004. The next two larger players had revenue in the range of US$726 million to US$740 million in 2004.

MDL had publicly expressed that it will be actively looking for opportunities to expand its geographical reach and grow it revenue, organically as well as through merger and acquisition.

MDL entered into a share exchange agreement to acquire the entire issued share capital of TwinMOS for US$96.8 million by way of the issue of 375.2 million new MDL shares priced at 42 SGD-cents per share. The acquisition is intended to elevate MDL a few more rungs up the ladder in the multi-billion dollar global solid state memory market. The acquisition is expected to be completed in 3Q of 2006. For readers who are clueless about TWINMOS.

Microft is expected to launch its VISTA operating system next year in 2007 a delay from its proposed launch date. As yet, the system hardware requirements are yet to be confirmed. One thing certain would be that it would be memory intensive just like Looking glass from SUN. However, I saw some new laptops with the sticker, Vista ready. Judging from the specs, I observed that at least 512MB DDR2 memory is needed. I expect end users will be buying new computers then fitted with more main memory( DDR2) which could potentially boast the bottomline of MDL specially after the successful acquisition of TWINMOS. This is a demostration of the ambitious management. The acquisition of TWINMOS allows MDL to reap economies of scale and consistent supply of memory chips for its own manufacturing. Maybe the delay of the launch of Vista by Microsoft may work in favor of MDL. A concern would be overstocking of inventory by manufacturers would cause a drop in prices of DRAM prices. It is just a low possibility.

Wired.com

Higher Ram prices may affect Vista

Vista to use more memory?

Windows Vista makes case for 2 GB of system memory, says Samsung


MDL recently concluded an exciting tie up with POTEVIO(http://www.potevio.com/en_new/index.asp), China's biggest handset maker. The increasing need for higher storage in mobiles will help drive the demand for Flash memory. Flash is lighter and more hardy than HDD based memory storage. The outlook for MDL looks bright indeed. POTEVIO is an IT products manufacturer and distributor as well as a service provider in the telecommunication industry where it is involved in both fixed line and mobile communications. It is one of the top 100 enterprises in China’s IT industry and was ranked No. 1 amongst the top 100 Chinese Electronics & Information Enterprises in 2001 and 2002. In 2003, POTEVIA was ranked by the Ministry of Commerce of China as the 5th largest enterprise, both amongst the top 500 largest import and export enterprises and the top 200 largest export enterprises. This Chinese biggest mobile phone producer has four self-owned product brands (Capitel, Eastcom, Bird and POTEVIO), four joint venture product brands (Ericsson, Nokia, Panasonic and Motorola) and two co-brand products (POTEVIO Sanyo and POTEVIO Toshiba) in China. In 2003, it achieved a production and sales volume of over 50 million units of handsets.


In its 1Q06 results, MDL announced a 59% increase in turnover with a corresponding 53% increase in gross profits. This is within my expectations.However 2Q results should be lower as expected as contribution from DRAM is seasonally lower in the 2Q. You can similarly get this information from chip testers like UTAC.

Based on DCF,



Today's share price of 0.37 represents a 22.8% discount to its intrinsic value. However do note that, I was conservative in my calculations taking into account the cyclical nature of the industry it is in.

Cheers
Niversphere.

Moore's Law: An empirical observation by Gordon Moore, co-founder and chairman of Intel.


Observation: New generation memory chips was introduced every 3 years woth 4 times memory capacity as that of the previous one. Alternatively, number of transistors on the memory chip becomes 4 times every 3 years or double every 18 months.

==================================================
Please read the prospectus and perform your analysis before making any investment decision. The above does not constitute a recommendation to apply for this company. I will not be liable for any losses incurred by anyone who invests based solely on the above-mentioned information

Ausgroup :: Tapping on Aussie Development

Ausgroup is a recent Sesdaq listed company (27 April 2005). It issued 52 million shares at 22 cents apiece during its IPO raising $8.1 million to fund working capital. I had swore off investing in Sesdaq listed company after an unpleasant experience with Automated TouchStone. Never heard of it? It's ok, you would miss it. However, Ausgroup is such a gem comparatively and is really hard to ignore and I decided to invest in Ausgroup for this exception. Ausgroup's operations are mainly focused on Australia.
Ausgroup is an integrated multi-disciplinary engineering services provider serving mainly the oil and gas and mining-related which includes extraction and processing of mineral ores industries. From industrial construction to maintenance services, the Group is able to provide total engineering solutions and specialist services across a variety of fields.

The Group's principal activities are undertaken through its engineering division and services division respectively. The engineering division comprises of its oil and gas, LNG ("Liquefied natural gas") projects, fabrication and industrial construction business units while the service division is made up of its maintenance, protective coatings, insulation and refractory linings business units.

The Group services the needs of renowned customers from the Energy sector (oil and gas, LNG) Apache Energy, Woodside, Shell, BP, Chevron and Roc Oil and Mining Resources( Iron Ore, Nickel, Gold, Coal, Alumina)Rio Tinto, BHP, Wesfarmers, Alcoa World Alumina and Worsley Alumina.


The business model of Ausgroup is similar to the water treatment companies. It a basica Build-Maintain-Upgrade business model. This provides Ausgroup with recurring income from completed projects which is nice to have. However, I observed some projects completed by Ausgroup are on a rolling contract basis for maintanence probably favoring the other party. This could be a slight concern for investors in Ausgroup. However, the management touched on the point that maintanence is always in demand and could buffer Ausgroup's performance even in difficult times. True to a certain extent, but not to be too optimistic about.

Based on Ausgroup's Investors Presentation, they provided an insight to their growth prospects of the industry they are in.









* information is based on insider information, the integrity of the news cannot be verified.







Ausgroup book order already looks promising going into 2007.

The management highlight several strategies going forward.



In Australia, Ausgroup continued to focus on Energy and Mining activities,target defence contracting and continue to grow their services business unit. To form joint ventures and alliances with Gorgon modules and defence ship building. The management possibly hinted at future mergers and acquisitions in the near medium term.

Ausgroup recently placed out a total of 39,477,000 new ordinary shares at the issue price of S$0.2896 for each placement share. The placement increased the total issued shares to 339,477,000 ordinary shares. This took place on 5th May 2006. EPS will be diluted to 1.0 Australian cents from 1.2 Australian cents based on the 6 months ended 31 December 2005.

The estimated net proceeds from the Placement, after deducting expenses will be S$1.2 million. The net proceeds will be used for working capital. My opinion on this share placement is a positive development for Ausgroup. It increases the liquidity of Ausgroup shares which usually plagued small share issues, healthy take up of new share issued and provides long term investors an opportunity to take part in the infrastruture building of Western Australia.



Extracted from the article Hu Jintao's visit to Australia:

"..............
While speeding up strategic economic restructuring, we are vigorously implementing the strategies of revitalising China through science and education, of sustainable development, of the development of the west and of renewal of the old industrial base of north-east China.

China enjoys a vast market, abundant labour, social and political stability and a vibrant momentum for development.

A stronger and more developed China will bring growth opportunities and tangible benefits to other countries in the world.

China and Australia are highly complementary economically.

Blessed with a vast territory and rich resources, Australia boasts of economic and technological successes.

The potential for China-Australia economic cooperation is immense.

Past, present or future, we see Australia as our important economic partner.

China-Australia trade grew rapidly in recent years from $US87 million ($A124.67 million) in the early years of diplomatic relations to $US10.4 billion ($A14.9 billion) in 2002.

China has become Australia's third largest trading partner, the fourth largest export market, and the fastest-growing one.

Australia is China's ninth largest trading partner and the biggest supplier of wool.

Over the years, China has purchased large amounts of iron ore and aluminium oxide from Australia which has such energy and mineral riches.

Last year, the two countries signed a 25-year, $25 billion deal on LNG in Guangdong, thus laying a solid foundation for bilateral energy cooperation. ......"


Another related article:

President Hu Jintao Meets Australian Business Leaders and New South Wales Governor Marie Bashir and Premier Robert Carr

Thread from CNA on AusGroup:
CNA Market Forum - Ausgroup

Investor Relations - ZaoBao IR


Based on DCF,



Today's share price of $0.305 represents a terrific 96.7% discount from its intrinsic value.



Cheers
Niversphere.


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Please read the prospectus and perform your analysis before making any investment decision. The above does not constitute a recommendation to apply for this company. I will not be liable for any losses incurred by anyone who invests based solely on the above-mentioned information

Memory Devices

Memory Devices has a relatively short history as were all tech company. It was established in 2001 and managed to be listed on the Mainboard of the Singapore Exchange on 9 November at an issue price of 20.5 cents. Memory Devices is in the business of research and development, manufacture and sale of solid state memory storage products for use in personal computers, notebooks, servers and networks as well as a wide array of consumer electronics, industrial and communications applications.

Its products, broadly categorized into DRAM memory modules and Flash memory products are sold to both ODM and OEM customers.

He makes BIG MONEY in shares, not soccer - By Joyce Lim

Great work there Chyelink.

Cheers
Niversphere.


Article excerpted from He makes BIG MONEY in shares, not soccer

* LAST WORLD CUP: Civil servant turns down friends' offer to bet on matches, instead he buys shares
* Now: They've gone broke, but he's worth $800,000. His salary? Just $3,000 a month

MR Roger Koh aims to become a millionaire in less than 10 years.

And it is not just a pipe dream for the 33-year-old civil servant, even though he draws a monthly salary of just $3,000.

In fact, he's just $200,000 shy of it.

Like some Singaporeans, Mr Koh has $500,000 in CPF, insurance and housing.


--Joyce Lim
But unlike many Singaporeans, he has $300,000 in cash and shares. His four-room HDB flat in the west and Japanese saloon car have also been fully paid for. This brings Mr Koh's total assets to $800,000.

Showing his latest bank and CPF statements to The New Paper on Sunday, Mr Koh proudly declares that he is debt-free.

And in a country where Singaporeans are quick to swipe and sign, Mr Koh is a rare breed.

He claims he has never owned a credit card.

Indeed, Mr Koh, married with a 1-year-old son, hates spending on credit and prefers to pay with cash or by Nets.

But he might not have the comfortable life he's leading now if he had gambled on the World Cup four years ago.

He contacted us after reading our report about a man who became a bankrupt after he gambled away all his money on World Cup matches.

The story struck a chord with Mr Koh as he too had once come close to losing his life savings on soccer bets.

He recalled: 'My friends and colleagues asked me to chip in on their bets. They told me, 'Sure win'.

'But I didn't believe them because they were soccer fanatics, and every match to them was a sure win.

'I'll place my money only on something I know well. Though I like playing soccer, I don't really follow soccer news or watch the matches.'

So Mr Koh watched from the sidelines as his friends placed huge bets.

'When I told my friends, 'No, thanks', some of them made fun of me and called me kiasu and kiasi (afraid to lose and die in Hokkien),' he said.

'When they won, they would say to me, 'See, told you to buy, but you didn't want'.'

STOOD HIS GROUND

Many times, he was tempted to take the plunge, but each time he said he stood his ground.

Instead, he put his money in shares, even though the stock market was languishing then.

'My friends, who won in the soccer matches, laughed at me for putting my money in stocks. They said that the market will keep going down. But I thought otherwise,' said Mr Koh, who holds a local diploma in business studies.

'I recalled how there was a rebound in the stock market after the 9/11 incident. So I decided to take the chance and invested all my money then.'

'I spent my time reading up on financial news and wrote e-mails to company CEOs to ask about their financial reports.'

With a capital of $30,000 in his CPF account and $50,000 cash, Mr Koh first invested in unit trusts and stocks.

Withing a year, he made $100,000.

His current portfolio includes shares in HTL International, Unisteel, BestWorld and TPV.

In four years, his investment portfolio increased by more than 160 per cent.

His friends, on the other hand, landed themselves deep in debt - many of them got burnt by gambling on the World Cup.

Mr Koh said: 'They lost their promotions, advancements, and most importantly, their loved ones, as the debt was too much for them to handle.

'Some of them tried to borrow money from me. But I refused because I didn't think it would do them any good.

FRIEND DECLARE BANKRUPT

'One of them, a property agent, was more than $50,000 in debt and finally had to declare himself a bankrupt.

'Another colleague's career was affected when his boss found out about his gambling from debtors who visited him at the office.'

Looking back, Mr Koh said he was glad he stayed away from football betting.

'Now, I aim to help my friends or relatives in their investment portfolio.

'I don't just concentrate on making money. I also want to give back to society by donating blood 100 times before I reach 50. I have since donated blood 42 times.'

And since the World Cup is just round the corner, Mr Koh has pasted The New Paper on Sunday report at his work desk to remind his colleagues about the pitfalls of soccer betting.

'I'm glad your paper ran the report. I hope it can serve as a reminder to readers not to blindly place their money on something they don't know about.'



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Odds are stock market will be hit

FORGET about the stock market.

Come June, punters will be watching the likes of Ronaldinho, David Beckham and Roberto Carlos make their runs down the soccer field rather than the rise and fall of the Nikkei, Dow Jones and Hang Seng indices.

With Berlin 2006 kicking off in just over a month, punters are more likely to be putting their money on the World Cup.

Some analysts believe that many retail investors and contra players, who look for short-term gains in shares, will shift their resources to football betting.

Remisier James Quek, 30, feels that the World Cup will ease share-trading activities.

'There will probably be less speculative trading,' he said.

'Even though share trading and soccer betting are two different things, the latter is still an opportunity to make money.'

HYPE

With less liquidity, share prices are set to fall.

'Some people may just take advantage of the situation and come in during the World Cup period,' said Mr Quek.

There are bound to be some brokers who will be distracted by the World Cup and their work attitude will be affected.

'Maybe there'll be a lot of hype in the first few matches. The middle part will be quieter until the finals,' said Mr Quek.

During the last World Cup in 2002, turnover on the SGX was almost halved in June, compared to the previous month. Share prices also took a hit.

However, a veteran remisier, who declined to be named, feels that today's market cannot be compared to four years ago.

She said: 'There was the crisis back then. Our economy has since recovered and we've recently been seeing a high volume of China stocks here.

'Also, with the General Elections, the market will do well,' she said.

Share investor Andy Ang, 28, agreed.

'In fact, people are speculating that the STI will go up even more,' the engineer said.

He is looking forward to the World Cup's kick-off on 9 Jun, but said he will not neglect his stock market activities.

Most of the investors we spoke to also said they would not be dumping their money into football preferring shares.

Though share speculation is also a form of gambling, it is still safer than soccer betting as losses can be reversed if the share price recovers.

Share investor Andy Ang said although he is looking forward to the World Cup's kick-off on 9 Jun, he will not neglect his stock market activities.

Engineer Ray Tan, 30, is also not bothered by the World Cup.

'I don't give a damn about the World Cup. Not everyone is into soccer,' he said.

'Some investors will probably be watching soccer matches and be less focused on the stock market.

'In that case, fewer stocks will be traded, which could result in depreciating share prices.'

This means the World Cup may actually be a good time for investors to go bargain hunting.

Why Global Testing share price not affected by recent share placement?

I have been reading some forums on Global Testing and noticed that some investor's education(in stocks) less than satisfactory. There was another thread which claimed that TMSC and other shareholders are selling Global Testing on the open market following the share placement news.

To clear some doubts, i wrote this article here. Global Testing placed 245,000,000 Ordinary Shares comprising:- (A) 175,000,000 New Shares; And (B) 70,000,000 Vendor Shares. The net asset


Thanks for your question as to why Global Testing’s net asset value (NAV) went up instead of down after the issue of 175 million new shares. Why isn’t there a dilution of its NAV?

The NAV went up because the new shares were issued at 31.25 cents which is higher than the pre-issue NAV of 22.54 cents.

The 175m new share actually was supposed to cause a dilution in the share price as the issue price of 175m new shares was at a discount of 4% to the prevailing market price of 32.5 cents (if my memory serves me right). The announcement of the new share issue caused a pull back in share price for only a day or so. When the market realized that the proceeds would be used for expanding and upgrading the production facilities in anticipation of a soaring demand, the share price then reversed its pull back and skyrocketed to 38 cents within a matter of days.

Normally new share issues cause a dilution in share price but not NAV because NAV is usually less than half or even one third of the traded share price for manufacturing and trading companies and a smaller fraction for service companies like education or IT services. But for property and hotel companies, share prices are commonly 20 to 40 % below NAV. For such companies, a new share issue could result in a dilution of NAV.