Petronas Investment in Uzbekistan

Excerpts from http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/11/16/nation/2564337&sec=nation

"Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who begins a three-day official visit to Uzbekistan today, is expected to announce new investments of up to RM700mil by Petronas in the republic’s oil and gas sector"

"Malaysia made several investments in post-independent Uzbekis­tan, particularly in the banking, hotel, mobile services and the distribution of oil and fuel industries. However, almost all the investments failed, owing mainly to the Asian regional economic crisis in 1998."

...

They never learn, do they?

Make investements just before an economic crisis hits. Watch investments fail. Repeat every couple of years?

Anyhow, a mere RM700m is nothing to Petronas. After all, we're talking about lunatics who spent RM128 billion in 2008 alone!

hmm: extra food for thought: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Uzbekistan

"According to EBRD transition indicators,[13] Uzbekistan's investment climate remains among the least favorable in the CIS, with only Belarus and Turkmenistan ranking lower. The unfavorable investment climate has caused foreign investment inflows to dwindle to a trickle. It is believed that Uzbekistan has the lowest level of FDI per capita in the CIS. Since Uzbekistan's independence, U.S. firms have invested roughly $500 million in the country, but due to declining investor confidence, harassment, and currency convertibility problems, numerous international investors have left the country or are considering leaving"

...

You know what? Don't blame the Asian Economic Crisis for investments in Uzbekistan... it's a lousy economy there.

Pakistan is a messed up country

Excerpts from:
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/11/16/apworld/20081116132745&sec=apworld

"Pakistan's decision to borrow $7.6 billion from the International Monetary Fund to stabilize its economy at a time of rising militant violence could lead to a public backlash"

"their nation's front-line status in the fight against al-Qaida and Taliban militant "

"ordinary Pakistanis, two-thirds of whom live on $2 dollar a day or less."

"However, nuclear-armed Pakistan's strategic importance in the U.S.-led war on terror makes its financial and political stability of particular concern to the international community"



Pakistan is a seriously messed up country. They're fighting an expensive war, they spent who knows how much on nuclear weapons... and 2/3 of their people live on less than USD 700 / RM2500 a year.

The IMF is willing to send them money... to repair the money supply?

WTF?

No wonder people are angry. Yeah, I know that IMF does not consider people's LIVES as part of their agenda, but... it does seem rather insensetive doesn't it?

Makes you realize that your own country is pretty good after all, doesn't it?

HUGE Fire Sweeps South California

http://www.thestreet.com/story/10448211/1/wildfires-imperil-southern-california.html

This has a lot of implications. Firstly, for people's lives and livelihoods. (fatalities appear to have been kept to a minimum, as the fire didn't spread sslowly but steadily and strongly, giving people time to evacuate) This is really really terrible for them...

Especially if their insurer was AIG.

Oh, they probably will all get their payouts. But I am sure that they are very very worried about the possibility that they might NOT receive their compensation. There is still a small possibility that they won't though. After all, nowadays even bank deposits have some small risk of default. (during the recent bank foreclosures, several dozen billion were paid out, but several hundred million was lost by depositers... a good average, but utterly devastating to those minority who lost several hundred million)

... how about those who didn't have insurance... or have not been keeping up with payments?

As for property prices... how will this affect property prices in South California? Perhaps this might help property prices recover, as those people will eventually need new homes... and some of them are wealthy people, who used to live in mansions.

What does it do to toxic mortages? What are the implications when a bank is contemplating forclosing a policy... and the house burns down?

...

In this environment, is it possible that some people with loose morals, large mortages, and low incomes, will be merrily pouring petrol (which is half the price it used to be!) around their homes? (after removing anything of worth from the premises)

Well... I hope that the US government will accept a helping hand to these victims. After all, this is something that they are supposed to protect their citizens from. They pay tax every year to support the Fire Department, don't they? So, it's only right that the US government compensates those who lost everything. Well, maybe not 100% compensation, but, don't leave them with nothing... right?

This is really Murphy's Law hitting hard. Each hit to the economy and world SEPARATELY would have been a disaster of large proportions on it's own. GM going down would have caused a share market crash even in a strong global economy. Oil Prices at this level would have caused a recession in Malaysia, even without factoring in a drop in global consumer spending. Which is worse, mass unemployment and economic woes, or this credit squeeze and the financial woes? (well the last selection is actually feeding upon each other in a vicious interconnected cycle to some extent) In the end, I think if a few more disasters hit, the whole world is go from deep deep trouble to International Emergency.

George Soros supports Regulation

Story from http://www.news.com.au/business/story/0,27753,24650136-14334,00.html

"Mr Soros, who reportedly earns more than $100,000 an hour as a hedge fund manager, said the large, high-risk hedge funds will be "decimated" by the financial crisis."

"Mr Soros urged President-elect Barack Obama to make regulating finance a priority, so all new financial products would be approved by regulators"

George Soros isprobably one of the highest paid hedge fund managers in the world. It is VERY likely that he would in fact be rewarded by NON-regulation, or loosening of controls.

However, George Soros, like Warren Buffet, is one of those people who can afford to be idealistic. He himself is advocating regulations.

It's just too dangerous leaving hedge funds and investment banks with almost unlimited power over so much of other people's money, and barely and rules, regulations or oversight from the governments!

I'm very glad that George Soros was honest enough to admit this. His freedom in constructing his own portfolios would be adversely affected, but he is man enough to say that regulation is necessary.

...

Of course, this doesn't mean I completely forgive him for what he did to Asia during the 1997 Currency Crisis. ... I lost 70% of my investment capital during that disaster! AARGH... the bad memories are coming back... The market did recover eventually though, but one thing I learnt from that... in a bear market, SELL. Don't be afraid to turn a paper loss into a real loss. What you sell today, you can buy back tomorrow. Or next month. Or next year. In fact, you don't lose anything by selling, other than your PRIDE. Well, there's a small broker's comission too, but that's rather inconsequential when the market is so volatile.