Warrants

Recently, I have joined the Macquarie Hotshot Contest.


It lasts for a month from 1 August till 30 August 2011. I thought it was a good experience and I definitely did enjoy it till now.


It has been a week now and I am proud to announce that I am currently ranked 7 in the student's category.

To see my name on a renowned website and contest is definitely satisfying. I was very happy to find out that I am rank 7 and that has motivated me to work hard for the next 3 weeks to perform the best I possibly can.


This has been an awesome learning experience. Reason being, it is hands-on.


We learn a lot of things in school but we often forget about it after 6 months. Why? Because it does not stick to us. It is only temporary. We learn ad we forget.


But, if we do it everyday, we will never forget. We become so in touch with the skill that we are so familiar with it.


Through this experience, I learnt to keep up with the global news. Before this contest, I always felt that it is very difficult to keep up with what's going on around the world. The professors always tells us to read the Business news, The Financial Times, but I always find it hard to consistently read them because of the workload in school.


However, through this contest, I realised that I have been keeping with what's happening around the world.


1. U.S raising the debt ceiling but still facing uncertain growth rate as the tax cuts are expiring soon

2. Italy and Spain might default on their debts and Europe is definitely in the dark right now.

3. China has $1 trillion investment in US debts and are very unhappy with the recent downgrade in the credit ratings by S&P

4. Asia stocks have been plummeting amidst fear of the uncertainty surrounding the West


By linking these 4 news together, you can make a lot of judgemnets and conclusions and I find that really amazing.


It is no longer difficult to read the news and I am able to understand them now. Having mastered the financial terms in school, I am able to put them into good use when I am analysing data online and also, I am able to make my own judgements on certain issues happening around the world.


From this warrant contest, I have learnt that by consistently following the news, it is actually quite easy to keep up with what's happening around the globe.


In fact, this is really what I want to do in the future, investment banking and that requires a lot of analysis, time and commitment. I am really happy that I am moving smoothly towards my goal and as the new school term is starting next week, I promise to keep up with the competition, the global news as well as my studies !

Asia markets plunge amid recession fears

Asian stock markets plummeted on Friday following carnage in the US and European markets over fears the world was heading towards another financial crisis.

Already-fragile investor confidence was hammered by more weak US economic data and a warning from the head of the European Commission that the eurozone debt crisis had likely spread to other economies.

"It's going to be a very ugly end to an even uglier week," IG Markets analyst Ben Potter said in Sydney, adding that all sectors were expected to take a battering.

Fear swept across Asia from Europe and the United States, where the Dow Jones Industrial Average suffered its worst one-day drop since December 2008 to close 4.3 percent lower at 11,383.68, erasing all this year's gains.

"We're seeing the erosion and now the loss of confidence, confidence in the economy, confidence in the market, confidence in the policy makers. It's all showing up," said US-based Hugh Johnson, of Hugh Johnson Advisors.

Weak jobs data out of the United States on Thursday fuelled concerns among some analysts that the world could be heading towards another recession following the 2008 financial crisis.

The US Labor Department reported that weekly claims for unemployment benefits remained at a high 400,000 last week.

Those figures followed data this week showing manufacturing growth in the United States, Europe and Asia had come to a virtual standstill.

"There is a deep concern about global growth and of the state of play in the United States in particular," said City Index analyst Giles Watts.

"Traders are growing increasingly concerned about a sharp slowdown in US economic activity in the third quarter."

Eyes will be on the United States later Friday when Washington releases key government jobs data and a weaker-than-expected result could lead to a further sell-off.

European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso on Thursday urged eurozone leaders to re-think their currency's financial defences, admitting debt contagion has now spread.

"It is clear that we are no longer managing a crisis just in the euro-area periphery," Barroso warned in a letter sent to the 17 eurozone leaders.

A July 21 deal on a second bailout for Greece worth $226 billion has failed to prevent sharply higher debt-risk premiums for Italy and Spain, the eurozone's third and fourth-largest economies.

His comments came as the European Central Bank announced it would resume emergency credit-easing measures, some of which were last enacted at the height of the financial crisis.

But the ECB's efforts still failed to restore confidence. The risk premium investors demand to buy Spanish 10-year bonds over safe-bet German debt shot back up to near a record high on Thursday.

The eurozone debt crisis has put Italy and Spain under huge pressure in recent weeks after Greece, Ireland and Portugal had to be bailed out by the European Union and the International Monetary Fund.

On currency markets the dollar held some of the gains it made against the yen Thursday after Tokyo stepped in to sell the Japanese unit as it edged towards a record high.

The greenback was at 78.43 yen, after rising close to 80 yen in the first few hours following Tokyo's intervention. However, some analysts said the possibility of a further intervention was supporting the dollar.

And Minister of State for Economic and Fiscal Policy Kaoru Yosano suggested more market action may follow, saying "it would be too hasty to think Thursday's intervention was a one-off measure".

However the euro slipped versus the yen as investors became more risk averse. The single currency fell to 111.05 yen from 111.27 yen in New York late on Thursday, while it gained to $1.4158 from $1.4100.

"The fear of a double-dip recession with the slowdown in the US and the sovereign debt situation in Europe is having everybody biting their nails," said Adam Sieminski, chief energy economist of Deutsche Bank.

New York's main contract, West Texas Intermediate light, sweet crude for delivery in September, was down $1.10 to $85.53 a barrel in afternoon trade after plunging $5.30, or 5.8 percent, in US trade Thursday.

It was the lowest closing price for WTI since February.

Brent North Sea crude for September delivery inched up four cents to $107.29 after falling $5.98, or 5.3 percent, in London trade.

"The economic data from the US look pretty disappointing, many investors wanted to get out of the markets in anticipation of recession," Samuel Securities economist Lana Soelistyaningsih said.

Sembcorp Marine's Q2 net profit down 15 pct

* Q2 net profit S$149.7 mln; Reuters f'cast S$183.5 mln

* Secured S$2.6 bln new orders in 2011, orderbook at S$5.7 bln

* Shares down 1.3 pct in 2011, underperforming Keppel, market

SINGAPORE, Aug 2 (Reuters) - Sembcorp Marine , the world's second largest rig builder, posted a worse-than-expected 15 percent fall in second quarter net profit, despite stronger margins.

The company, a unit of waste-processor to infrastructure conglomerate Sembcorp Industries , said it has secured S$2.6 billion ($2.2 billion) worth of new orders so far this year excluding ship repair jobs, taking its total orderbook to S$5.7 billion.

The new orders come after a massive slowdown in the past two years as a result of the global economic crisis and a world-wide disruption in offshore drilling after an accident in the Gulf of Mexico led to an environmental disaster.

"The fundamentals driving the offshore oil industry remain intact with exploration and production spending by oil majors and national oil companies expected to increase in 2011," the company said in a statement.

"As offshore rig demand continues to strengthen in most regions around the world, there is a need for technically advanced, versatile and efficient rigs that will address both the shallow and deepwater prospects."

The company said the lower net profit was mainly due to timing in recognition of rig building projects.

Its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) margin stood at 21.5 percent compared to 20.3 percent a year ago.

Chomp Chomp + Udders

Hi guys,

I'm officially a super fan of Chomp Chomp as I went there for 4 times in just 2 weeks!

Well, to me the food at Chomp Chomp is really good :) :)

After Chomp Chomp, we went straight to Udders for some Ice Cream.

I can't really remember e flavours.

But vaguely, they are awesomely chocolate, baileys ice cream, D24 Durian Ice Cream, etc.

Definitely a great place to chill and hang out :)

The photos are below 

Enjoy

Super Junior unleashes “Mr. Simple”

Google Buys 1,030 IBM Patents

It’s no secret that Google (NSDQ: GOOG) has been in the market to buy some patents for several months now. Now it looks like Google finally found what it’s looking for. The search giant has purchased more than 1,000 patents from the largest U.S. patent-holder of all: IBM.

If there’s any company with patents to spare, it’s surely IBM. Big Blue has topped the list of companies getting the most U.S. patent grants every year for the past 18 years. In 2009, IBM received 4,914 U.S. patents, an all-time record.

The reason Google needs so many patents is to fend off potential attacks by competitors. As Google GC Kent Walker explained in an April blog post, “[O]ne of a company’s best defenses against this kind of litigation is (ironically) to have a formidable patent portfolio, as this helps maintain your freedom to develop new products and services.”

Walker added: “Google is a relatively young company, and although we have a growing number of patents, many of our competitors have larger portfolios given their longer histories.”