More delisting is good in a virtual stock market

In the pages of the media yesterday there were talks of more delisting of companies in the SGX. This is the natural trend of development in the stock market given the lack of interest in the investors and the depressed value of stocks. Many stocks are now trading below market valuations and there is no point in listing and becoming targets of takeovers. Stocks that are doing well in real business will find it more attractive to delist or relist in markets that give them better valuations.

Basically, why waste money paying listing fees and not getting the real value of the stocks and not able to raise funds? I have been talking about his development for a while. What is happening in the stock market today?

The long term investors and analysts are talking about real values and market valuations that made investment in stocks really attractive, good bye, pun intended. On the other hand the big funds with their gambling machines are only interested in scalping the markets, cornering the market with programmed trading to make the margins. Whether a stock is up or down, below or above market valuation, is not their concern. Neither do they have to worry about such meaningless stuff. As long as they move the market the way they wanted, with sheer volumes, they are happy with their profits.

Companies listing their stocks will find it meaningless, with little incentive to pay the listing fees. They will be better off saving the money or to list them somewhere else.

The market is dying and soon mortis rigor will take over. And with the kind of volumes generated, the commission generated, broking houses will find it a struggle to pay for their overheads. Commissions, not clearing fees, are the life blood that feed all the parties in the market and keeping everyone afloat. It is like Quantitative Easing. The need for liquidity is not for fun. Jokers are constantly talking about cutting cost, lowering commissions. In the absence of real commissions, the industry will end up a wrinkled apple, and finally a dried apple without any juice.

Stock markets must operate under the dynamics of real business and organic growth on a fairly long time scale. When the prices of stocks have no bearings to their real values, when machines are only interested in buying and selling in micro seconds, it is a sign of a mismatch as pure gambling based on odds and lightning speed has no place in a real stock market. The machines will thrive very well in a virtual stock market without any real stocks. They talk differently and think differently from investors looking for good value. They belong to different worlds.

How good is a virtual stock market with virtual stocks, no need for real stocks? Put in a few more high speed computers to generate a few more billions of trades. Is it liquidity? A virtual stock market can exist with fictitious stocks and fictitious trading volumes by computers and there is no need for real stocks and real investors. All the broking houses can pack up, all the backroom staff, analysts, management, and remisiers can look for other jobs. And the stock market can continue to exist in full glory with the machines roaring against each other, with hundreds of billions of virtual trades in a virtual world of machines.

Yes, save all the commissions and liquidity, cut more commissions. There is no need for commissions and liquidity. The cost of trading can be reduced to non existence. Machines and computers do not need to be fed. It will be a cheap cheap stock market.

Olympics medal tally – Top sporting nation

There is without a single doubt who is the biggest winner in the Olympic Games. Top of the table in medal counts is none other than Africa. More than half of the gold medals won by the USA and Britain were contributed by Africans. And the Africans were everywhere, from Jamaica, Trinidad, the Americas, to Europe and of course Africa.

The USA, with its European athletes, at best could probably win 30 or 40 medals. But it could really do very well if America had included the Injun braves. Unfortunately not many braves are alive today. The few left in the reservations were poor physical specimens of their great forefathers.

It could have been a very different story if the natives of the USA were around as their athletic lifestyle as hunters, horsemen and nomads would be a plus point in the Olympics. They would have won all the archery medals, throwing of javelins and horse riding events easily. And they would put up a good fight against the Africans in athletics.

Well done Africa. I must say the selective breeding by the European Americans in the cotton fields also played a very vital part in the physical development of the Afro American athletes.

And the papa cries

A young man dies. He was a jovial and easy going person. ‘He was very active and we would always look out for each other when we played soccer,’ said his schoolmate. Muhammad Fahrurrazi died when on active service as a NSman, in Brunei.

The Defence Minister wrote a personal letter of condolence to his father. A general presented his father with the nation’s flag and his(Muhammad's) beret. He was given a military funeral with honour. But the young man died. These niceties were only awarded when a soldier dies in service.

What would the NSman get in return should he not die and live till is ORD? If he joins the civil service, he may get two increments in salary. Oh, he will get some income tax deduction if his income is high enough to be taxable. He may get some handouts into his CPF which he may not see or touch for a long time to come, or not at all. He would risk losing his girl friend while doing his two years in NS. He will lose two years of employment and the full income he deserves. And if things did not turn out right, he will lose his life, like Muhammad Fahrurrazi.

Has the sacrifice of the NSmen been really appreciated by the policy makers? So many young men have lost their lives for the nation. And many faded into oblivion as forgotten soldiers. In Muhammad’s case his father only had this to say, ‘I regret not meeting him the last time he returned to Singapore…He was just carrying out his duties.’

The citizens have accepted this cruel fate of life, quietly, and their sons making the ultimate sacrifice. Many have taken this for granted as the fate of being a Singaporean man. What should they expect? What do they think they should be entitled to for this sacrifice? No, nothing, no sacrifice. It is part of being a Singaporean!

And the mama cries.

A social economic system that disadvantages Sinkies?

Two key factors in our economic infrastructure will doom whatever that were built over the last 40 years. The first is high pay at the top, both private and public. With everyone at the top demanding and expecting to be paid in the millions, the money must come from somewhere. No need to guess from where or who.

The next most crucial factor is high property price. All the professionals would need to make more to feed this property bubble, to buy that multi million property. The average Sinkies too would need more to buy their flats. The professionals would need to charge more for their expertise. Who pays? No need to guess.

The average Sinkies need to get better paying jobs to cover the high cost of living. They have no choice but to shun lower paying jobs. Why blame them for asking for higher pay? Employers would thus not want them as they could substitute them with cheaper foreigners. The average Sinkies would find themselves more difficult to get the jobs they want to be able to foot the bills. They become unattractive to employers and ended up unable to make ends meet if they accept a lower paying job or not getting a job while waiting for a higher paying one.

They are then told to lower their expectations, live within their means. The reality is that living within their means with such high cost of living is still difficult if they don’t get a job with a decent pay. The only real option is to downgrade everything to the level of the cheap foreigners to survive.

And Sinkieland has just been crowned the richest country in the world and will stay there for the next 40 years with average income of US$56,532 in 2010 and US$137,310 in 2050. Shouldn’t Sinkies be the richest and happiest people in the world? Shouldn’t the govt be praised to sky high for the great job it has done? Why are the daft Sinkies so unhappy, and so angry?

Shouldn't all Sinkies be popping champagne and celebrating the good life?

An Immigration Bonus for Singaporeans?

 Making the Foreigner More Acceptable


By Yolanda Chin, Nadica Pavlovska and Norman Vasu

Synopsis

In order to make Singaporeans more receptive to foreigners, it may be worth considering making the benefits of their presence more tangible to Singaporeans through an “Immigration Bonus” for citizens from a revenue pool of immigrant labour levies….

Making Singaporeans appreciate foreigners

While the current efforts to mitigate the drawbacks of the influx of foreigners are steps in the right direction, two issues remain. Firstly, the fact remains that the immediate downsides clearly continue to be palpable while the benefits remain obscure. Secondly, the staunchly anti-immigration camp may not appreciate the potential cost of a closed-door immigration policy.

A way forward would be to introduce an “Immigration Bonus” from a revenue pool derived from the levies collected for the Work Permit and S Pass Holders as well as the possible introduction of a one-off entry levy for Employment Pass Holders. The new levy for Employment Pass Holders should not deter foreign talent from coming to Singapore given that the dual benefits of competitively low taxes and life in a vibrant safe environment are likely to outweigh the cost of the levy….

Yolanda Chin is a Research Fellow, Nadica Pavlovska Associate Research Fellow and Norman Vasu Assistant Professor at the Centre of Excellence for National Security (CENS) at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University

The above two paragraphs are the gist of what this high level think tank team from RSIS has conceived after very serious meditation in the wilderness of NTU. Who would have thought of such a brilliant idea, to use money collected from the immigrants to appease the anger of the daft Sinkies who could not understand or appreciate the indispensable benefits of having foreigners to come and help them and provide jobs for them. And if they continue to be daft, the whole country will simply fold up.

The daft Sinkies are so daft that they did not even know the danger facing them and the little island they have built without the help of these new highly talented immigrants. But not all is lost. With brilliant academics thinking for them, taking their advice would not go wrong. And hey, the Immigration Bonus could be used to offset the increasing GST and save them some money as well. It is definitely a win win and win situation. The immigrants win, the daft Sinkies win, the brilliant academics with their clever idea also win.

This is simply wonderful food for thought. I must confess I would never have thought of it. No wonder they said Sinkies are daft. I am also one daft Sinkies. No need further proof.