For the assets that I am holding and thus, am watching closely, I am observing that two of my instruments are beginning to decouple from the effects of the falling oil price, namely;

1) my natural currency, the RM, and
2) the counter that I am holding in the SGX, namely Keppel Corp.

Both seems to be staying well despite the volatility in oil price.

I just recalled - the 1MDB land parcel in Klang Valley - in Sg Besi will be disposed soon officially to one of two conglomerates bidding for it. It was reported earlier that the deal would be finalized by year-end.

This will definitely lend a strong support for the RM in the short term.

That's it - if the USD and the JPY strengthens together, then its definitely a safe-haven event...

If the RMB is devalued again, it will drag the SGD down. Hence, we see the USD/SGD rising....

But don't forget too that there are costs to the local currency too if it wishes to peg and follow the USD closely.

Good points.. AV and good to see you again, Showtime,... in terms of converting RM to USD, if, say, the USD is too high, I tend to take another route : I will convert from RM to SGD first, since the conversion is still 'affordable'. SGD too has depreciated in tandem with the RM against the USD.

Confidence in the SGD is always there. Sooner or later,.. the SGD will regain its strength. It's always okay to keep the SGD.

The Msian mkt is always like that,... always have hidden hands im play,... seldom following fundamentals. Anyway, I'm sure even 'hidden hands' will run out of bullets in the long run.

That is why we call it 'hidden hands'. And not intervention by the central bank.

The funds to support the RM may or may not have come from BNM.

Please don't ! I play the carry trade. The AUD must stay above 0.6900, at the very least,....

More like affecting EM currencies,....

Yes, same question here,... when is the ann't ?

will the RM strengthen another round after the ann't, just like back in October ??? Will give a window, albeit a tight one for us to squeeze some RM out !!!!!

Convert over to the USD, buy High Yield Bond Funds in USD denomination and buy Mandarin Oriental in the SGX.

HY Bond Funds (USD-denominated)are now yielding up to 9% yearly, but must choose the correct fund and the correct fund house. HY BOnd Funds were starting to turnaround last week, but got jammed by the China events,.... it's okay, I am still confident,...

The counter : Mandarin Oriental is denominated in the USD, at current price, gives out a yield of approx 4.3%, very stable and growing dividend policy and very strong company.

Opinions ?

Edited by adding the comment for the HY BOnd Funds.

This post has been edited by Hansel: Jan 11 2016, 05:57 PM

AV,...I'm not talking in terms of millions here, okay ???

Even with thousands of MYRs, one can still go for those two instruments that I mentioned. YOu just need a bank account and a brokerage account in Sgp,... and judging by what I see here, a few have managed to open such accounts with purely our advice.

I can always do with opinions from LYN,... no problem, it's not necessary that I need to go after my RM in Sgp all the time.

So,... have you studied Mandarin Oriental as a counter for purchase ?

If the rating agencies are happy and upgrade our rating, then the MYR might strengthen a bit upon the revision. I'd like that,... give me some room to convert my MYR into some more USD and SGD.

Bro,... the evening-out will be in the following forms :-

1) MYR depreciating by >= 2.5%.

2) Inflation increasing by >= 2.5%.

3) GST increasing by >= 2.5%.

If, at the very least, any of the above three exceeds the 2.5% quantum, there goes our MYR investment in the ASX. So, do you think any of nos 1), 2) or 3) above will exceed 2.5% this year ? Or will drop below ?

Furthermore, the compliance issue between the SC and PNB remains a worry,.....unless, you have that thing called : trust the Gov't. Well,......I don't, and I believe I have better choices out there besides the PNB FP funds.

Reply for your first para : you said it,... and I don't think it will be 6.4% anymore this year. Very likely, around 6.0 to 6.2 % only if we are lucky.

Reply for your second para : if you continue putting inside the ASX, then you are continuing to trust them. Why ? Because we can see very clearly now that they are not following what they committed in their Master Prospectus (MP), and they are doing as and how they like it. This is not right. Track record ? Come on,... first of all, I do not recall the time previously when they had to reveal the true price of a fund as according to those two MFRS rulings. Never,.. this event has never taken place before, so what track record are you talking about ?

Then you talk about the demand being always there,.... always sold out,... you know why ?? It's because we Malaysians are NOT aware of those statements in the MP. Secondly, for those who are aware, many do not know where else to put their money for supposedly 'safe' returns. That's why,....... many of us Msians are still going after these funds. So what do they do ?? Just trust the Gov't and hope for the best-lar,... what else can they do ???

It all goes back to the point of : trust the Gov't. Not trusting transparency, not trusting that rules and governance are in place to protect investors, but : just trust the Gov't. Like what you are doing now.

Reply for you third para : I wouldn't speculate too much if I am not able to gove a timeline of when will something happen. However, look at historicals, here we can look at historicals. Has the USD appreciated against the MYR throughout the years ? Has the SGD appreciated against the MYR throughout the years ?

What are the fundamentals that will support the MYR in the long run ???? Strengths in the MYR ?? Sure,. just a very short period, then it wil turn around again and weaken,...

Finally, for me,... I have no intention to trust the Gov't just to earn a return that will be wiped out by the three factors which I have mentioned in my previous posting. You said it : judging by the way the value of our MYR is going, even earning 10% against our MYR is debatable.

Don't look at money in its absoluteness,... that is wrong mathematically, as well as practically,... we have to look at money in terms of the value that it brings.

Talking about blood on their hands,.........look,...I don't need to see blood on anybody's hands, or what rubbish.... I am an INVESTOR, and that,.. in itself, calls for the qualities of being an investor. Such qualities are, among others, being able to identify failures of corporate governance and failures in a system,... and these are enough to make me walk away.

The Gov't cannot afford for what to happen ???? Lose votes ?? Non-Bumi votes ??? Look, man,... they don't need to kill the ASB and the ASB2, okay ?? They can just put down the Non-Bumi funds if they wished to,... you think they care about the Non-Bumi votes ???

Anyway, even if they don't put down any of the funds, they are already winning by giving you 6.0 to 6.2 %. They know very well that 6.2% will not be able to cover inflation, but since this is better than FD, it is considered by Malaysians as being very good already. 6.2% is good if the value of the MYR is maintained by controlling inflation, and by not weakening so much against the other currencies of the world. It is not good anymore NOW.

And, we Malaysians can't see this,... due to our low knowledge in this area.

Then I will wait for two catalysts that may swing the MYR up for a small window, namely;

1) The ann't of the Revised Budget by the PM.

2) The lowering of the NEER band for the SGD which may weaken the SGD in the near term.

I will convert to the SGD !

The AUD may depreciate further if the RBA giykd reduce the OCR down the road. Wait a bit more,.... chances of the OCR increasing/decreasing the OCR, on a month-to-month basis :-

http://www.asx.com.au/prices/targetratetracker.htm

Hence,............being the employer is ALWAYS BETTER than being the employed.