Is trading in RM suspended? I don't think so. BNM is doing a wise move. Instead of tail wagging the body, BNM is reminding everyone that onshore rates is the reference rate. Those offshore speculation are ultimately settled using onshore rates right? Those who chase to the moon will kena burnt badly.

That is not a good thing.

Yes, better than prices stagnant or going down.

May I know roughly how much of your net worth/wealth including residence etc (in % terms) has been converted to foreign currency denominated assets? This question is also addressed to all those willing to share their figures. I have only about 3%. Sigh....

Is the education funds spent already? If they are used up for education, then no longer considered "investments". They become written off expenses.(prudence concept)

So, with 70% still in RM and 30% overseas, I am curious whether you hope RM strengthen or weaken? Do you hope for RM to strengthen to convert more but your existing foreign portfolio paper gains shrink in RM terms OR you prefer RM to weaken further and never look back so that your 30% foreign investment will have substantial paper gain and possibly permanent forex gain if RM never appreciate again?

Well, I will not discount the possibility because firstly Singapore in itself is a very vulnerable country. Just because it has appreciated against Rm for decades does not mean you can project into the future . It is not that simple. Otherwise, there won't be any trend reversals in the world and there won't be any downfall in empires.

Agree SGD has been good but there is a price for everything. Just that it is not clear cut now that SGD will definitely outperform going forward . After all they lost a visionary leader in senior Lee and Singapore is too small. I prefer to buy some AUD as well and of course SGD if it comes down lah.

Sometimes gain , sometimes lose , not a big issue.

I think it could be a mistake because it does not make sense that those who borrows RM can invest more than those who does not. ( in this case implying those who does not borrow cannot invest abroad )

The purpose of forcing conversion is two fold. 1st.Discourage speculation because holding in USD after exporting and trying to time the conversion can be a form of speculation especially in excess of what is needed as working capital. 2nd is as stated to promote liquidity and depth ie some are buyers of ringgit and some are sellers. This is to promote onshore settlement of ringgit to replace the NDF. This is in line with their belief that offshore speculation is the real and only reason behind ringgit weakness and they are trying to shift all hedging and transactional activities onshore and in the process requires as much ringgit demand as possible. How else do you suggest they do it? Anything they do also got negative side one but if compared to alternative, this is the best way.

This post has been edited by aspartame: Dec 3 2016, 08:51 AM

TT is the only way the bigger you are. U dunt expect them to go through money changers ? Do you?

BNM's move is smart. Now that they have closed the loophole on NDF, they are tackling those "speculation" done by exporters who never convert back to RM and always receive USD causing BNM to lose foreign reserves. These exporters are hoarding USD. Now they are forced to convert to RM. Not bad for them also as they get to realise forex gains. BNM aim is not to strengthen RM. It is to preserve their foreign currency reserves by increasing demand of RM. Think about it, Malaysia has trade and current account surplus for years. By right, RM should strengthen. The reason it weakened was because of perception that RM is weak. This perception of weakness encourages hoarding of USD by exporters and also exacerbated by RM speculation via NDF. Once these 2 causes of RM weakness are removed, RM will stabilise. It might or might not go up but it will stop falling and that is good enough for BNM. Once RM stabilises and confidence return and Perception of RM weakness is no longer there, RM will then strengthen. It is all about perception. Somebody mentioned why BNM never increase interest rate. The reason is it will not effectively tackle the RM perception of weakness problem. A 0.5 to 1% hike in interest will not suddenly increase demand of RM. Not only that, such moves only serve to weaken the local economy further fuelling the speculation that the economy is headed for recession. I think the BNM move is brilliant. It addresses the root cause of RM weakness and remove them from the market. Without NDF, speculators can't do shit. They have nothing to speculate on as price is determined onshore. Once speculation dies down, confidence in RM improves and foreign investment will continue to invest directly and also indirectly via MGS because they know there is ample liquidity onshore for them to liquidate their RM once the MGS matures. I foresee a stabilisation and then later strengthening of RM but it will not strengthen by much. BNM wants RM to remain weak . In fact there is a conpetitive devaluation of currency going on among emerging economies. It is in the government interest that RM remain stable and relatively underpriced so that Malaysia remains competitive internationally in terms of pricing. What they do not want is excessive speculation and volatility.

There is also a possibility that RM might record the largest single day gain in years. All it takes is some panic covering......

It is not in BNM interest for RM to strengthen. They are satisfied with a stable and undervalued RM at 4.45.

As long as RM is stable, it is unlikely that BNM will introduce more measures. Their objective is achieved. They are not stupid to push RM upwards only for speculators to sell more RM to them at higher prices. At current prices, sellers of RM are selling at undervalued levels and I think the longer RM stays at this level, the more exhausted sellers of RM will be. After speculating interest die down, RM will then strengthen.

This post has been edited by aspartame: Dec 5 2016, 01:58 PM

No la, money changers rate are better than the banks.

Yup, flippers with leverage with no cash buffer will be trapped and sell at loss. For long term investors, they wished they had more properties "trapped" since decades ago, the longer the better.

Wills/Trusts are a must. Nevertheless, "trapped" value can be "untrapped" anytime and enjoyed as and when needed unless one has too many properties such that most properties are "trapped" not because cannot untrap but because there was no need to tap into the "trapped" props..anyway...major diversion liau from topic