Visitors at Shanghai World Expo get a taste of Singapore cuisine

SHANGHAI : Visitors at the World Expo in Shanghai got a taste of Singapore cuisine at the Singapore Pavilion on Friday.

Curry chicken, mee sua, carrot cake, fried prawn rolls, yam paste, egg tarts and fried wantons were some of the dishes on display at the Singapore Pavilion.

Mark Ng, Area Director (Eastern China), Singapore Tourism Board, said: “We are really delighted to bring the Singapore Food Festival to the Shanghai World Expo to the Singapore Pavilion and to coincide it with the actual launch in Singapore. We are bringing one of our biggest events from Singapore to share it with everyone at the World Expo.”

Catering company Kriston said visitors can expect quite authentic hawker fare - although there were some challenges.

Stanley Jong, chef, Kriston Food & Beverage, said: “The biggest challenge is to find raw materials and bring them into Shanghai. Some of the ingredients are not allowed to be brought into the country and some can hardly be found in Shanghai. It is inevitable that some ingredients have to be substituted, but we try our best to find ingredients similar in taste to the original.”

The event was a crowd pleaser and not even the wet weather could dampen the enthusiasm.

One visitor said: “After tasting this food, I feel good about it and wish to go to Singapore to experience it again.”

Another commented: “It tastes very delicious. When I took the lid off, I could smell the aromatic flavour. It is nice. If I have the chance, I would like to visit Singapore.”

A third noted: “I come from Fujian and the flavour of this food is similar to that in my hometown. After visiting the Singapore Pavilion and tasting Singapore food, I really want to go there now.”

And from Friday till the following Sunday, 400 lucky visitors each day will get a sampler coupon which will allow to taste the food for free

NEW YORK (Reuters) - After ugly economic data and an unexpected downturn in sentiment on quarterly earnings, Wall Street will face a tough time battling back from the latest sell-off.

Technology and banking results will once again shape investor mindset in the week ahead. But it’ll be a tough job to shift back into a positive mode after stocks dropped nearly 3 percent drop on Friday.

Minutes of the Federal Reserve ’s June meeting got the market seriously worried this week after officials said they were more concerned with the pace of the economic recovery.

A raft of disappointing data didn’t help, prompting questions this week on whether the economy had merely hit a soft patch or was primed for a double-dip recession.

“It doesn’t mean the market can’t rally, but the structural problems are there and there is no doubt about it,” said Joe Saluzzi, co-manager of trading at Themis Trading in Chatham, New Jersey.

From a technical perspective, the picture is even less certain. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index is stuck in a tight range after it failed to hold its 50-day moving average, now near 1,090, after closing above it for two days.

The Nasdaq Composite, meanwhile, failed in its attempt to break its 200-day moving average, but has support around its 14-day moving average at 2,171.

At Friday’s close, the three major U.S. stock indexes were each down about 1 percent for the week: The Dow Jones industrial average lost 1 percent, while the S&P 500 slid 1.2 percent and the Nasdaq shed 0.8 percent.

The coming week’s earnings will include results from 12 Dow components, as well as earnings from financial powerhouses Goldman Sachs Group Inc and Morgan Stanley along with tech bellwethers Apple Inc, Texas Instruments Inc and Qualcomm Inc.

For the second quarter, earnings are expected to increase 28 percent from the year-ago period, according to Thomson Reuters data.

DOUBLE SHOT OF HOUSING DATA

The week’s major economic indicators will zero in on the housing sector, which is still struggling in the wake of the worst recession since the 1930s. In the second quarter, banks repossessed a record number of U.S. homes as U.S. unemployment stayed high, according to RealtyTrac, a real estate data company.

On Tuesday, Wall Street will get data on housing starts for June, which are expected to show a slight decline to a seasonally adjusted annual pace of 580,000 units from 593,000 in May, according to economists polled by Reuters.

Another snapshot of the housing market will be provided on Thursday with existing home sales for June. The forecast calls for a drop of 8.1 percent in June existing home sales versus the 2.2 percent decline in May, the Reuters poll showed.

REVENUES UNDER THE MICROSCOPE

But investors will focus on earnings next week. Close attention will be paid to revenue for signs of improvement, in light of the contrasting results from Intel Corp and Google Inc.

“That’s been the problem. They’ve been meeting or exceeding on cost cutting and not on demand for their products,” said Terry Morris, senior vice president and senior equity manager for National Penn Investors Trust Company in Reading, Pennsylvania.

“That has got to end pretty soon because the market was expecting sales to start improving and it’s not materializing.”

According to Thomson Reuters data through July 16, 48 companies in the S&P 500 Index have reported earnings for the second quarter, with 75 percent having topped analysts estimates, 13 percent in line with expectations and 13 percent below expectations.

On a revenue basis, of the 48 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported results so far, 71 percent have topped analysts’ expectations and 29 percent have fallen below estimates.

TAMER OUTLOOK FOR TECHS

Options investors appear to be expecting less volatility in the technology sector than the broader market next week.

Implied volatility on the at-the-money options for the SPDR S&P 500 ETF, an exchange-traded fund that tracks the benchmark S&P 500 , was slightly higher than on the PowerShares QQQ Trust ETF that tracks the performance of the Nasdaq 100, according to Steve Claussen, chief investment strategist at online brokerage OptionsHouse.com.

Implied volatility, a key component of options prices, measures the expected movement in stocks calculated by options prices. It is also seen as a barometer of anxiety.

“It’s notable that QQQQ is showing less implied volatility, which suggests more movements in the broader market than the straight technology sector. The tech sector will be a less exciting place in terms of movements next week,” he said.

Implied volatility on August options for the S&P 500 ETF was 25.5 percent, slightly higher than 25.25 percent for the Nasdaq ETF. Usually, the Nasdaq ETF has an implied volatility that’s 5 percent to 10 percent above that of the S&P 500 ETF.

The most actively traded options on the S&P 500 ETF were the August $100 and $105 puts, excluding July options that expire at the end of the day. Late Friday, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF was down 2.8 percent at $106.63.

For the QQQQ, the highest volume was on the August $44 put and August $45 call options. On Friday, the ETF was down 2.78 percent at $44.34.

BoCom announces final schedule for Rmb33b rights issue, revised downward
from the previous target of Rmb42b
Analyst: Nan Sheng      Tel: (8621) 5404 7225 x809

Final schedule for Rmb33b rights issue. BoCom announced its final schedule for its 1.5 for 10 A+H rights issuance.
BoCom will seek to issue 7,349m new shares (3,459.7m new H-shares and
3,889.5m new A-shares) to raise a total of Rmb33b, total share capital
following the rights issuance will increase to 56,343m shares. H-shares
rights will be priced at HK$5.14 (a 37% discount to Friday’s close of
HK$8.19) and A-share rights will be priced at Rmb4.50 (a 29.6% discount to
Friday’s close of Rmb6.39).

Impact:
Steeper discount should be well-received by the market. We believe the now-steeper discount on the rights offering by BoCom should
attract greater investor interest leading up to the ex-rights date. The
rights are priced at a 34% discount to our estimated theoretical ex-rights
price of HK$7.79 and should attract solid buying interest, in our view.
While shares will likely be volatile today weighted down by weak economic
data in the United States, we do believe BoCom will likely outperform
other banks this week as investors look to buy shares to participate in
the rights offering prior to this Friday (the ex-rights date).

Timetable:
Expected H Share Rights Issue Timetable
Last day of dealings in H Shares on a cum-rights basis . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . Thursday, 10 June 2010
First day of dealings in H Shares on an ex-rights basis . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . Friday, 11 June 2010
Latest time for lodging transfer of H Shares in order to
qualify for the H Share Rights Issue. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . 4:30 p.m., Monday, 14 June 2010
The H Shareholders’ register closed. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . Tuesday, 15 June 2010 to
Friday, 18 June 2010 (both days inclusive)
H Share Record Date . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Friday, 18 June 2010
Register of the H Shareholders re-opens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . Monday, 21 June 2010
Despatch of Prospectus Documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . Thursday, 24 June 2010
First day of dealings in Nil Paid H Rights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . Monday, 28 June 2010
Latest time for splitting Nil Paid H Rights. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4:30 p.m., Wednesday, 30 June 2010
Last day of dealings in Nil Paid H Rights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . .Tuesday, 6 July 2010
Latest time for acceptance of, and payment for, H Rights Shares and
application for excess H Rights Shares . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . 4:00 p.m., Friday, 9 July 2010
Latest time for the termination of the Underwriting Agreement and
for the H Share Rights Issue to become unconditional. . . . . .5:00 p.m.,
Wednesday, 14 July 2010
Announcement of results of acceptance of and
excess applications for H Rights Shares . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . Thursday, 15 July 2010
Despatch of certifi cates for fully-paid H Rights Shares . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . Friday, 16 July 2010
Despatch of refund cheques in respect of wholly or
partially unsuccessful applications for excess H Rights Shares . . . . . .
. . . . . Friday, 16 July 2010
Expected commencement of dealings in fully-paid H Rights Shares . . . 9:30
a.m., Monday, 19 July 2010

Oil skidded more than three dollars a barrel on Friday as a sharply weaker euro and a disappointing US jobs report sparked fresh concerns about the strength of economic recovery.

New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in July, closed at 71.51 dollars a barrel, down 3.10 dollars from Thursday.

In London, Brent North Sea crude for July slumped 3.32 dollars to settle at 72.09 dollars.

“The euro started it and then the US data was not as positive as expected,” said Tom Bentz at BNP Paribas. “All the markets took the report negatively.”

The US Labor Department reported the US economy created 431,000 nonfarm jobs in May, well short of the 500,000 expected by most analysts.

More worrying, the vast majority of the new jobs came from temporary government hiring for this year’s census.

The private sector created only 41,000 jobs, less than a fifth of the amount predicted by analysts. Much of that gain came from temporary service-sector jobs.

The unemployment rate slipped to 9.7 percent from 9.9 percent in April as the labor force contracted.

Meanwhile, the European single currency plunged to a fresh four-year low against the dollar amid rising fears of contagion from eurozone financial problems.

The euro hit 1.1972 dollars, a low last seen on March 24, 2006.

The single unit fell despite the much weaker-than-expected US jobs report, with investors attracted by the dollar’s safe-haven status at a time of economic uncertainty.

But a stronger dollar makes dollar-priced oil more expensive for buyers using weaker currencies, tending to dampen demand.

The US jobs report rocked European and US stock markets, driving the blue-chip Dow index down more than 300 points on Wall Street and sending oil futures plummeting.

“We’ll see what next week brings but right now the pessimism about the economy has surfaced again as it had last Friday when Spain was downgraded,” he said.

“We spent most of the week trying to recover, everyone was kind of banking on a bullish job report and that turned out not to be the case.”

Mike Fitzpatrick said the jobs report bodes ill for the consumer spending that accounts for about 70 percent of US economic activity.

“Today’s number has to be a disappointment, not only as a raw number but in the implied costs of continued high unemployment,” he said.

“Consumers need to spend, even if less than recent profligacy, to get the domestic economy and energy demand growth going.”

The oil market sell-off came after a strong rally Thursday spurred by the weekly oil inventories report from the US government’s Department of Energy (DoE).

The report which showed a larger-than-expected dip in gasoline inventories, indicating stronger demand in the world’s largest energy-consuming country.

Cover all shorts and buy for long account at 135, because this is the 1/2 point between 8-3/8 and 261¾, being half of the life fluctuation and the strongest point since 150.

8-3/8 was the lowest price at which US Steel ever traded, in May 1904. 261¾ was the all-time high in September 1929 (these prices are still the all-time low and high for US Steel by the way). 135 was the 50% level or mid-point between these.

Chart 1 – Half-Point of Lifetime Range

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Chart 1 shows that the recent low on 21st May, Santos fell straight to this 50% level and then rebounded.

The quote from Gann also mentions that the price at 135 was ‘the strongest point since 150.’ This was another major 50% level, from a major low in 1915 to the all-time high in 1929. You can see from Chart 2 that the equivalent in Santos is the range from the 2003 low to the all-time high in 2008 that started our run of trades in February.

Chart 2 – Major Monthly Range

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In addition, the low of 21st May completed a repeat of the range from 27th March to 9th July 2009 – a significant range on the weekly chart. As you’ll remember from last week, it also hit the 1 x 2 trading day angle from the October 2008 low.

Chart 3 – Set-Up on 21 May

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Now that I have spent some time showing you the set-up, back to Gann’s instructions at the top of the article. He said ‘cover shorts and buy at 135’. Translating that to our situation, on 21st May, when Santos gapped down, opened just below the 1 x 2 angle and the major 50% level, and then moved up, we should take profits on all our short trades and go long. The exact price of the 50% level is 11.37. Last week I suggested covering shorts at 11.40, just to be certain.

With an account balance now of over $120,000, we would be able to take 50,000 CFDs and place stops 5 cents below the low of the day (just in case the market re-tests the low).

Chart 4 – Going Long

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On 25th May there was a higher swing bottom, confirmed on the 27th. Our rules would state to take an additional position here, as this is a First Higher Swing Bottom trade from the Number One Trading Plan.

On 1st June there was what appeared to be an Outside Continuation Day, which would also have given a signal to take an additional position. The next day, however, was actually a down day, so it became an Outside Reversal Day. We will take this up in the next issue, but note what Volume has been doing since the 21 May low.

Knowledge is Power!

A North Korean diplomat said Thursday that tensions on the Korean peninsula were running so high over the sinking of a South Korean warship that “war may break out at any moment.”

In a speech to the international Conference on Disarmament, Ri Jang-Gon, deputy permanent representative for North Korea at the United Nations in Geneva, blamed the “grave situation” on South Korea and the United States.

“The present situation of the Korean peninsula is so grave that a war may break out at any moment,” he said.

International investigators on May 20 announced their findings that a North Korean submarine had fired a heavy torpedo to sink the warship, in what has been described as the most serious act of aggression from the North since the Korean war 60 years ago.

Forty-six South Korean crew died when the warship sank near the disputed Yellow Sea border with the North in March in mysterious circumstances after a reported explosion.

South Korea has announced a series of reprisals including cutting off trade with its communist neighbour.

The North has denied involvement, and responded to the South’s reprisals with threats of war.

Ri reiterated that North Korea had nothing to do with the sinking.

He claimed that North Koreans “were making their utmost efforts to attain the goal of a powerful and prosperous country by the year 2012″ and needed a “peaceful environment” to do so.

“A peace treaty is the only successful and reasonable way for the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula,” he added.

The two countries have never reached a peace agreement since the 1950-53 war, relying on a tenuous Cold War era armistice.

However, he also warned that the North Korean people were “ready to promptly react to… various forms of tough measures including an all out war.”

US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on his way to an Asian security conference in Singapore that the United States and South Korea may hold additional military exercises in response to the alleged torpedoing of the ship.

Gates said there were no plans to deploy a US aircraft carrier as part of the exercises.

He was due to hold talks on the incident with his South Korean and Japanese counterparts.

In Geneva, the North Korean diplomat accused Seoul of trying to ignite a campaign against Pyongyang with an “anti-DPRK” policy intent on destroying exchanges and steps to reconciliation.

“The results of investigation made by South Korean regime is sheer fabrication based on assumptions guesses and supposition,” said Ri.

South Korea’s delegate retorted that the incident was a grave violation of the armistice agreement,” adding that the evidence of an attack was “undeniable”.

He said the statement in the UN’s permanent arms control forum appeared to have been made “for propaganda purposes.”

ADB asks Sri Lanka to reduce size of budget

The Asian Development Bank on Friday asked Sri Lanka to prune the size of its budget to sustain economic stability as the island emerges from decades of ethnic conflict.

The Manila-based bank’s President Haruhiko Kuroda said Sri Lanka’s top priority now is to rebuild infrastructure in the island’s war-ravaged north and east; and ensure economic stability reaches everyone in the country.

“For that, macro-economic stability, particularly a sustainable budget deficit, is crucial for sustained economic growth,” Kuroda told reporters in Colombo at the end of his three-day visit to the island.

Sri Lanka’s fiscal deficit shot up to 9.7 percent of gross domestic product in 2009, above a seven percent target set by the International Monetary Fund when they released a 2.6 billion dollar bailout package last July.

“Fiscal deficit close to 10 percent of GDP is too large and must be reduced over the medium term,” Kuroda said urging the government to widen its tax net and increase government revenue.

ADB forecasts Sri Lanka’s economy to expand strongly by 6.0 percent this year from 3.5 percent last year, but Kuroda warned the Indian Ocean Island needed to trim its expenses.

“You may be able to increase growth in the short run by increasing spending and reducing taxes. But in the medium to long run if there is no prudent and sound fiscal policy, you cannot have sustained growth,” he said.

ADB Sri Lanka country director Richard Vokes said about 450 million to 500 million dollars has been earmarked to disburse in the tropical island between end 2009 and 2010.

Kuroda said about 50 percent of the project loans will be disbursed in the island’s war-ravaged north and east for reconstruction work and livelihood support.

Sri Lanka is emerging from a 37-year ethnic conflict after government forces last May, crushed the Tamil Tiger rebels who were fighting for an independent homeland for minority Tamils from the majority Sinhalese community.

The United Nations estimates some 100,000 people died in the conflict, while tens of thousands are unable to return to their villages and still live in makeshift homes.

Fibonacci is absolutely vital in understanding the principles of Elliott Wave and there have been written many articles in past editions of the Trading Tutors Newsletter which look at this. Remember, searching for old articles is very easy through your software. Just click on the ‘news’ tab, go to articles and use the search and filter functions. This week we revisit some basic Elliott theory and where the Dow is likely to be in the cycle.

During the 1930’s, Ralph Nelson Elliott, the father of Elliott Wave Theory, observed that stock markets move in a series of rhythmic patterns which are based on a natural progression of shifts in mass investor psychology. As market participants vacillate between greed and fear, price patterns develop. These price patterns are called “waves”.

Elliott discovered that there were two basic types of wave patterns:

Impulse waves, consisting of five waves, which collectively move in the direction of the main trend of the market.

Correction waves, consisting of three smaller waves, follow the impulse wave series and move counter to the market’s main direction.

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Elliott further discovered that each wave, whether impulsive or corrective, subdivides into smaller waves and/or comprises a part of a larger wave. Waves can, therefore, be analysed in time periods ranging from a matter of minutes to many centuries.

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After the Impulse wave, a pattern of correction in the opposite direction from the impulse wave occurs. This corrective phase is characterized by a 3 wave pattern. Again, rules regarding the relationships between the volume, momentum, and oscillation characteristics of these waves provide the basis for their identification as correction waves by ProfitSource.

The ends of these corrective waves are identified by the letters ABC on the price chart. They in turn, will set the stage for the next group of Impulse waves. To me, it looks like the current correction may well have run its course.

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With these simple rules in mind, it is easy to start looking for Elliott counts in the current market. Below is a possible count which is congruent with the current economic conditions being faced in the US and also with other elements of technical analysis.

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Remember, that Elliott Wave is an extra indicator which should be used in conjunction with a broader integrated approach..

World stocks fall on euro debt, growth fears

Global stock markets reeled Tuesday amid growing fears the European debt crisis threatens a return to recession and a spike in dangerous tensions between North and South Korea.

Investors, rocked by fresh turmoil in the Spanish banking sector, were also hit by the prospect of severe austerity measures in the eurozone that could slam the brakes on the fragile global economic recovery.

Reflecting the growing tensions, rates for money lent between commercial banks pushed higher, stoking worries there could be a repeat of the credit crunch of 2008 sparked by the collapse of US investment bank Lehman Brothers.

Investors meanwhile were buying safety — the dollar and US government bonds — in the hope of riding out a storm which has been building for months as first Greece and then other weaker eurozone states got into difficulty.

After heavy losses in Asia and Europe, US stock markets recovered from some of the damage inflicted early in the session.

The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average recouped losses of over 250 points to finish just above the symbolic 10,000-point mark, but still in the red.

The Dow dropped 22.82 points (0.23 percent) to 10,043.75 while the broad-based S&P 500 staged a dramatic comeback, closing 0.38 points or 0.04 percent higher at 1,074.03.

Wall Street “again took its cues from overseas today, with the Korean peninsula and the eurozone sharing the global spotlight,” said Andrea Kramer of Schaeffers Investment Research.

“A valiant eleventh-hour blitz by the bulls kept the Dow Jones Industrial Average atop round-number support, and put the S&P 500 Index just north of breakeven.”

At one point all 30 of the Dow’s stocks had been down, with shares in consumer and financial firms hit hardest.

But amid the turmoil, news that US consumer confidence — a key component for any economic recovery — improved for the third straight month in May provided a boost.

Still, the US rally game too late to nudge up European markets.

“Investors continued to flee risky asset classes on Tuesday… causing European indices to slump,” said City Index analyst Joshua Raymond.

Michael Hewson, analyst at CMC Markets, said there were “increased fears about the stability of the European banking system and the financial viability of sovereign governments.

“Bank borrowing costs… have risen to their highest levels since July last year on concerns about the integrity of the European banking system,” he said, adding that markets were now worried about a double-dip recession.

In Europe, London’s benchmark FTSE 100 index of leading shares slumped 2.54 percent. In Paris, the CAC 40 fell 2.90 percent and in Frankfurt the DAX lost 2.34 percent.

Other European markets fared even worse, with Madrid down 3.05 percent and Milan losing 3.40 percent but these two markets were well off their early lows.

Meanwhile, the European single currency stood at 1.2351 dollars in late New York trade, coming off an early low of 1.2178 dollars in London trade.

In Asian trade earlier Tuesday, stocks were hit by reports that North Korea was on combat alert after it was blamed for the sinking of a South Korean ship in March.

Tokyo lost 3.06 percent, hitting its lowest level since November 30, Hong Kong dropped 3.47 percent and Shanghai shed 1.90 percent.

“The bloodbath continues on equity markets as a heightened sense of concern creeps back in to traders’ minds,” said ODL Securities analyst Owen Ireland.

Singapore’s former Deputy Prime Minister and chief economic architect, Dr. Goh Keng Swee, has passed away after a long illness. He was 91.

Dr Goh is best remembered as one of the key architects behind Singapore’s  economic success. His daughter-in-law, Tan Siok Sun described the story of his life in the new book Goh Keng Swee: A Portrait. The biography features many of the key milestones in Singapore’s journey from sleepy backwater to a globalised, First-World city.

He is survived by his wife, son, daughter-in-law, two grandsons and three great grandchildren.

Born into a rich Malacca family, his father, Goh Leng Inn, managed a rubber plantation and his mother was from a family that produced famous Malaysian politicians like Tan Cheng Lock and his son Tan Siew Sin.

Dr. Goh came to Singapore at the age of two, and was later educated at Anglo Chinese School before going on to study economics at Raffles College.

He was active in post-war administration after joining the Department of Social Welfare in 1946. He then tendered his resignation from the civil service to enter politics in 1959.  Elected as the People’s Action Party (PAP)’s representative for the Kreta Ayer Constituency, he only retired from the position in 1984.

In 1959, upon taking up the post of Minister of Finance, he once famously described the state of Singapore’s economy as “wretched”. Thanks to his efforts, however, the economy did not stay that way for long.

Twelve years later, in 1979, Dr. Goh made significant contributions to Singapore’s education system, introducing key policies like religious education and streaming in primary schools.

Apart from his role as the Finance Minister, Dr. Goh also became the Minister for Interior and Defence until 1967 following Singapore’s independence. One of the key policies he is credited for is the creation of National Service.

Due to personal reasons, Dr. Goh stepped down as Deputy Prime Minister in 1984. By then, he had been in the Cabinet for 25 years, serving the last 11 as Deputy Prime Minister.

Famed for his legendary thriftiness, President S.R. Nathan, who once worked with Goh in the defence ministry in the 1970s, observed that he was so averse to the idea of spending that he would carry soap flakes to wash his clothing in the hotel  bathroom whenever he travelled.

Retired civil servant Oon Lye Kim, 70, told Yahoo! Singapore, “Dr. Goh wasn’t much of a talker but he was a brilliant economist. He really laid the foundations for Singapore’s economic success. He was also instrumental in developing Jurong Island, then just a wild jungle, thereby giving jobs to thousands.”

Another retiree, Paul Loh, 63 said, “He was a very tough but also prudent man, especially when Singapore broke away from Malaysia and we were left on our own. People respect him for what he has done.”

My condolences to his family.

Then at the start of this week talk of contagion started to do the rounds. But again, maybe Europe and the UK will go pear-shaped, but that’s all. We’ll be fine. Our lovely banks don’t have any Greek exposure.

But now today we’ve got “abyss” being used.

That’s hardly surprising considering the deep mess Greece and the European Union is in. And quite frankly it’s something that should be taken seriously.

We’re not talking about common-all-garden riots here. We’re not talking about World Economic Forum style riots with a few bags of flour being thrown and the odd urine water bomb splashing across the old bill.

It’s not the type of riot where the participants turn up for a bit of copper baiting and argy-bargy, fully expecting to return to their day job in the call centre on Monday morning. From what we can see it’s yer proper lootin’ and a killin’ civil unrest.

But we’ll see. You never know, it could all blow over before you know it. However, we’d want pretty decent odds if we were going to place a bet on it.

So who’s to blame for the Greek mess? Are the Greeks behaving like spoilt brats? Do they deserve the punishment that’s being dealt to them? Haven’t they received all the benefits of government largesse?

It won’t surprise you to learn that we firmly place the blame on the government. Sure, the Greek public aren’t completely innocent, thinking they could have something for nothing. But when it comes down to it, the prime reason for the current mess is the politicians and their insatiable appetite for power.

I’m afraid it’s the nature of the political beast. And it’s why we believe in a minimalist government.

The more powers that politicians are granted, the more they’ll want. The more they get to control things, the more they’ll want to control other things.

Eventually it reaches a tipping point. The government ends up having its fingers in so many pies its actions have the biggest impact on the fortunes of the economy. You can see that in Greece, and you can see that in, er, Australia…

Just look at what the Fairy Ruddfather has done to the markets this week. The impact has only been this big due to the excessive influence of government.

And it adds further evidence to support our claim that Australia does not operate a truly free market. In a free market with limited government, the government would not have this kind of power and could therefore not make these decisions.

As we’ve pointed out all along, it is the excesses of government that is the overwhelming negative influence on the economy, not free enterprise.

The front page of today’s Australian Financial Review (AFR) has political hack Laura Tingle leading with:

“The war of words over the resource super profits tax has overshadowed how the Henry review has presented the government with a new fiscal policy lever to control the economy. The lever is a new tax which, as a macro-economic policy, could reweight the way the economy works.”

To free-marketeers that kind of statement is enough to make you drop your copy of The Wealth of Nations into your bowl of cornflakes of a morning.

We love the last part especially; it “could reweight the way the economy works.”

See what I mean about the obsession for hapless bureaucrats and politicians to control things? They just can’t help themselves.

The idea that the Resource Super Profits Tax is a new lever to control the economy is just plain madness. But again, it’s the overconfidence of bureaucrats who believe they saved the Australian economy from disaster.

We’d love to hear from Ms. Tingle her explanation of how economies work. Our guess is that she believes it involves politicians and bureaucrats pulling and pushing levers like an old signalman.

Clearly Ms. Tingle and other government and tax lovers have some bizarre idea that economies can be directed at the whim of bureaucrats just as a child can control a toy train set.

In fact, in a Money Morning exclusive, below is a photo we secretly took this morning of a government bureaucrat in action - not surprisingly he’s sitting down on the job (probably an occupational health and safety thing):

The Greek debt crisis sent a shudder through global financial markets and served as a dramatic reminder of how vulnerable the world economy remains to the threat of a fast-spreading financial panic.

To many, market developments this week served as a spooky reminder of the fall of 2008 and the panic that spread worldwide after Lehman Brothers collapsed with disastrous consequences in September 2008.

“If people get scared that Greece could default, they are going to be scared that Portugal will default and then other countries. Once people panic, they panic about everything,” said David Wyss, chief economist at Standard and Poor’s in New York. “We saw that in the wake of the Lehman Brothers failure.”

The Dow Jones industrial average ended Thursday up 122.05 points at 11,167.32, while European stock markets rose after two days of steep declines.

Those market gains came as European and Germany officials sought to assure investors that they were working quickly to approve a bailout for Greece with European Union monetary affairs commission Olli Rehn, saying he was confident that talks on a bailout package of support from European countries and the International Monetary Fund would be wrapped up in a few days.

Underscoring the need for quick solutions, the White House released a statement late Wednesday that President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel had discussed the “importance of resolute action by Greece and timely support from the IMF and Europe to address Greece’s economic difficulties.”

In Asia, while there are not yet significant concerns about the creditworthiness of the region’s governments, big economies like China and Japan still have much at stake. Europe is an important export market for Asia, and China and Japan are among the biggest investors in the debt issued by the United States and European countries with holdings worth billions of dollars.

Some lenders in the region, meanwhile, are already fretting that Europe’s problems will chill the financial system, making it harder for banks to borrow the short and long-term money that helps fund their own lending to businesses and consumers.

There are also concerns the turmoil in Europe could convince China to delay any appreciation of its currency — widely viewed as undervalued — aggravating tensions with the U.S. and other trading partners. A key meeting on this issue is scheduled for May 24-25 when Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will meet with their counterparts for talks in Beijing.

Economists noted that the debt problems hitting Greece and other European countries often occur after a financial crisis. That is because governments borrow heavily to prop up their banking systems, which sends their own debt burdens soaring.

In the current crisis, the United States has seen its publicly held debt jump from 36 percent of the total economy in 2007 to 64 percent this year. That’s the highest level since 1951, when the country was still paying off the debt run up to fight World War II.

Debt levels of all developing countries are rising to levels not seen over the past 60 years, the IMF said in an economic survey released last week.

“The Greek problem highlights a broader problem across the globe,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics. “Governments used their resources to end the financial panic and the Great Recession, but now they have to figure out how to pay for it.”

While the United States and Japan, the world’s two biggest economies, also have heavy debt loads, they enjoy advantages in financing that debt that Greece does not have.

More than 90 percent of Japan’s debt is funded domestically, putting the country at low risk for capital flight and servicing that debt remains manageable because of low interest rates.

But Fitch Ratings did warn last week that Japan’s credit rating could worsen if Tokyo does not rein in snowballing debt, which reached 201 percent of gross domestic product in 2009. Deflation, slow growth and dwindling household savings could eventually undermine Japan’s ability to fund itself.

The rest of Asia is on sounder financial footing, especially considering its rapid growth. The region underwent a “profound deleveraging” in the 1990s following its own financial crisis, mandated by the IMF’s strict bailout conditions, said Glen Maguire, chief Asia economist at Societe Generale.

China’s government reports its debt at about 20 percent of GDP. But Tom Orlik, an analyst in Beijing for Stone & McCarthy Research Associates, says the figure is far higher than official numbers suggest.

Add in local government debt and nonperforming loans in the government-owned banks, and the level tops 50 percent of GDP, he said.

“The number is higher than the government acknowledges, and that is well known, but it is still not a very alarming number,” Orlik said.

While Asia appears strong enough to avoid the debt problems engulfing Greece and Europe, it hasn’t been immune to the anxiety the turmoil has produced with Asian equity markets being hammered this week, in line with deep share declines in Europe and the U.S.

Signaling what may lie ahead, the chief executive of ANZ Banking Group Ltd., an Australian lender with operations across Asia, warned Thursday that the sovereign debt crisis in Europe could make it harder for banks to access credit.

“I am still quite worried about the global economy,” Smith told reporters. “Europe is a mess.”

CHICAGO: Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong hopes that Singaporeans based overseas will realise the country’s developments and economic growth particularly after the financial crisis and return home soon.

He was speaking to some 150 Singaporeans who are studying and working in Chicago. Mr Lee was wrapping up his trip to the US, where he had also visited Washington DC.

Mr Lee told Singaporeans in Chicago that Singapore is on a stable platform to transform itself, illustrating that with a slideshow of the country’s latest additions such as Ion Orchard and The Pinnacle@Duxton.

“…..A snapshot of what Singapore is, some of the ’happening’ things which have been going on (which hopefully) give you a feel of what Singapore is like and some nostalgia, homesickness so that you’ll come back and visit (soon),” said Mr Lee.

“I think a lot of the (Singapore) story also has to do with the Singaporeans who are overseas who are studying, working, (they are) part of our community, part of our family. So (do) keep in touch with home, keep in touch with each other,” he added.

Mr Lee later mingled with the crowd of Singaporeans and they were glad they had a rare chance to talk to the Prime Minister.

In fact, some said Mr Lee gave them a sense of optimism about Singapore’s future, while others felt that the Prime Minister could come up with more programmes to help Singaporeans based overseas to better integrate when they return home.

Ricky Tay, a manager of Audit and Enterprise Risk Services at Deloitte and Touche, has been in Chicago for six years. He said, “The Prime Minister has painted a very positive picture and the upside for Singapore is tremendous. I think a lot of students and professionals living overseas will consider returning to Singapore to look for opportunities.”

Chong Siew Gan, a consultant who has been living in Chicago for 10 years, said, “For older Singaporeans who have families here, I think we want more than just a professional job, buildings, shopping and F1 (racing). We need to grow and to have a better quality of life.”

Hatim Thaker, a student, said, “I’m getting a very different perspective here in the US and not being trained in Singapore like everybody else. It gives me a very unique angle, through which I can contribute and participate, as the Prime Minister said, (in) Singapore activities.”

Aktar Thaker, a property investor, said, “It’s quite obvious to me that he (PM Lee) is trying his best to ask fellow Singaporeans to return home and contribute to the country, which is the right thing for him to do but as individuals, it’s also important for us to do the right thing for ourselves.”

Prime Minister Lee also met the president of the University of Chicago, Robert Zimmer, before leaving Chicago after a two—day visit.

Changi Airport has bounced back from third placing in 2009 to become the “World’s Best Airport” this year in Skytrax World Airport survey.

In the annual survey of travellers worldwide last year, Changi was placed third, trailing behind Seoul’s Incheon and Hong Kong. But this year, Changi overtook Incheon and Hong Kong to top the ranking. Changi also won the Skytrax award for Best Leisure Amenities.

This is the third Best Airport award Changi has received this year. Last month, the airport won the Top Worldwide Airport by Wanderlust and Best Airport in Asia Pacific by DestinAsian.

Changi has won the awards by Wanderlust and DestinAsian eight and five times
respectively.

Since its opening in 1981, Changi Airport has won more than 340 airport awards.

Changi Airport Group’s CEO, Mr Lee Seow Hiang, expressed appreciation to Changi Airport’s many stakeholders for their support.

He said: “changi’s success would not be possible without the affirmation, encouragement and feedback that we have received from our stakeholders, including the millions of passengers and visitors we serve every year.

“This has motivated us to continue to improve and innovate. We are honoured to receive these awards and thank everyone for their vote of confidence.”

Mr Lee added: “In an ever—competitive operating landscape, these awards are also a testament to the hard work and tireless efforts of all airport staff and partners in the Changi community to deliver the Changi Experience. I want to thank them too for their contributions.”

Mr Edward Plaisted, chairman of Skytrax, said: “This is the largest ever Skytrax airport survey with 9.8 million travellers from over 100 nationalities taking part, and underlines the unrivalled, global coverage of this study.

“Taking pride of place in being named World’s Best Airport for 2010 is Singapore Changi Airport.

“Changi has always been one of the world’s best performing airports during the 10 years of the World Airport Survey, and I congratulate them on achieving this number one position in 2010…. in what was an extremely competitive survey environment”.

World’s top 10 rankings in the World Airport Awards for 2010:

1 Singapore

2 Seoul Incheon

3 Hong Kong

4 Munich

5 Kuala Lumpur

6 Zurich

7 Amsterdam

8 Beijing

9 Auckland

10 Bangkok

The world’s fourth Universal Studios welcomed its first visitors on Thursday with a lavish ceremony aimed at attracting luck, and repeat business, to the Singapore theme park which hopes to avoid the fate of loss-making Hong Kong Disneyland.

Doors were flung open to the public at precisely 08:28 a.m. after 18 Chinese lions blazed through the entrance at 08:08 a.m. The number 8 is considered by many in mostly ethnic Chinese Singapore as auspicious.

Actresses dressed up like Marilyn Monroe and Betty Boop paraded with the lion-dancing troupe along Hollywood Boulevard, one of the seven themed zones in the 20-hectare park that aims to attract 4.5 million visitors in its first year.

“We have ambitions that this would be the No. 1 destination in Asia and also Europe as far as theme parks are concerned,” Genting Group chairman Lim Kok Thay told reporters after the opening ceremony.

Asked if Universal Studios Singapore could lose its novelty quickly and suffer losses like Hong Kong’s Disneyland, Lim said: “Definitely not, we are different from Disney.”

He adding the park would bring in more rides over the next three years to keep the experience “fresh” for visitors.

Since opening to fanfare in 2005, Disney’s first magic kingdom in China struggled to attract the expected flood of visitors from mainland China, and has been criticized as being too small to attract repeat visitors.

In 2008, it made a net loss of $170 million and is now undergoing an expansion aimed at bolstering its competitiveness with a rival Disneyland scheduled to open in Shanghai in the next five or six years.

The 24 attractions at Universal Studios include the world’s tallest dueling rollercoaster — where two rollercoasters shoot off at the same time and loop around each other — plus a 4-D cinema and rides based on Hollywood films such as “Madagascar” and “Jurassic Park.”

“It is surprisingly nice,” said Vijay, an Indian Singaporean visiting with his two kids, and wearing a Florida Universal Studios t-shirt. “The environment, the crowd and the merchandise is on par with Florida.”

“In the Singapore context, this service is very good. There are always common complaints in Singapore about lousy, rock bottom service, but these people make a difference,” said Vijay, who declined to give his full name.

The park is part of the $4.4 billion Resorts World at Sentosa, owned by a unit of Malaysia’s Genting Group, which also has a casino and six hotels, and plans to lure 60 percent visitors from Southeast Asia, China and India.

The Singapore government expects visitor arrivals to the city-state to rise by as much as 30 percent to 12.5 million this year, helped by an economic recovery in Asia and the lure of two new multi-billion dollar casino resorts.

SINGAPORE: Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Monday identified three areas of priority for the government: restructuring the economy, addressing the population shortfall and updating the political system.

In a wide—ranging speech to the annual Singapore Perspective Conference organised by the Institute of Policy Studies, Mr Lee said Singapore’s economic policies must enable the country’s economy to perform to its limits and help Singaporeans thrive in the new world.

He said the Economic Strategies Committee will publish its recommendations next week and the government will respond to them in the Budget.

On the population shortfall, Mr Lee said Singapore’s birth rates are not improving despite the government’s best efforts.

Last year, there were about 170 fewer live births than in 2008.

This would mean that the total fertility rate would have gone down further.

PM Lee stressed that while the decline could have been due to the global economic downturn, it was still a grave trend. If left unchecked, Singapore will face not just an ageing, but a shrinking population.

Therefore, he said the government needs to encourage Singaporeans to start families with parenthood benefits and other incentives.

However, he added that the country must also top up the population and talent pool with immigration in a measured and calibrated manner.

Turning to the subject of updating the political system, Mr Lee said that while having a sound system is essential, that in itself is not enough to produce political stability and good governance.

He said that the nation is still dependent on having the right people in charge and an able and committed team coming forward to lead the country.

The Prime Minister said a key task for his predecessors and himself has always been to identify promising people to form the next team.

He said good progress has been made in this area but he does not have a complete next team lined up in Cabinet yet.

He is confident that by the next general election, the People’s Action Party (PAP) will field a team which will consist the core of the next generation leadership.

Mr Lee also stressed that leadership renewal will be a major issue in the next general election.