It was reported that more than 900,000 homes have been reported to being unable to service their monthly mortgages while another 300,000 or so have been late in making mortgage payments.

The power-packed event comprised around 60 exhibition booths, showcasing some of the interesting and useful investment-related products and services from various players in the colourful world of finance.

Recently, a newspaper reported about men and women being fascinated with metal accessories. It showed that more people purchase these accessories to showcase their very own style and are not afraid to flaunt them.

Jim Rogers, co-founder of the Quantum Hedge Fund with George Soros, is buying exchange-traded funds tied to Taiwan on the back of anticipations that the upcoming elections will install a government, which is favourable to closer ties with China. Both the opposition KMT’s Ma Ying-jeou and the ruling DPP’s Frank Hsieh favour closer links with China. Taiwan has restricted direct shipping, air and postal links with the mainland since the KMT retreated to the island in 1949 after losing a civil 

At times like these - when investors shun the stock market and analysts begin to issue a string of ‘downgrade’ calls - it is rather disheartening to look at the stock screen where a sea of red greets you nearly every morning.

Striving to prevent a global financial market meltdown, the US Federal Reserve has cut the key federal funds rate by 75 basis points to 2.25%, falling short of traders’ bets for at least a full percentage point. The Federal Open Market Committee left the door open for further reductions. The decision has resulted in part from a compromise between Bernanke and officials who preferred a less aggressive move, namely Dallas Fed President Richard Fisher and Philadelphia Fed President Charles 

Visa Inc., the largest payment-card network, has set a record for US IPOs through raising $17.9b. According to a company statement, underwriters sold 406m shrs of Visa at $44 apiece. The IPO dwarfs AT&

The selling was due to the bad result for Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi, who secured a good victory just four years ago, only to be faced with such a slim victory. Now that the opposition has secured Penang, will it result in another racial riot like the one in 1969?

Cosco’s FY07 results came within our expectations. Revenue surged 86%, while net profit jumped 64% helped by a lower effective tax rate of 3.9%. Gross profit margins (GPM) came in at 27%, lower than our forecast for 30.5%.

HLF reported a strong 20% growth in operating income and 23% growth in operating profit, 10% above our expectations. Operating profit for full year was S$135m, with 4Q registering a 5% improvement over 3Q.