Category Archives for Market
Understanding MAS Core Inflation Measure
In 2010, our headline Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation averaged 2.8% for the whole year. Rather than the CPI, MAS uses the MAS Core Inflation measure as an input in the formulation of monetary policy. This measure is supposed to reflect persistent rather than temporary price movements. Designed to be less volatile, it is a […]
MAS Monetary Policy Statement Apr 2011
MAS released their monetary policy statement yesterday. CPI inflation rose from 3.4% in Q3 2010 to 5.2% in the first two months of 2011. For the whole year, CPI inflation is expected to come in at the upper half of the 3-4% forecast range while MAS Core Inflation will be 2-3%. MAS will recenter the […]
Warren Buffett CNBC Transcript 2011
Warren Buffett recently did a 3-hr long interview on CNBC Squawk Box. The complete transcript of the interview, as well as the actual video footage, can be found below: CNBC Warren Buffett Transcript, March 2, 2011 Part 1: Most Berkshire Businesses ‘Inching Along’ Part 2 : The ‘Zebra’ That Got Away Part 3: ‘Elephant Gun’ […]
Singapore Budget 2011
Singapore Budget 2011 was announced by Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam yesterday. I read with amusement the report by Straits Times that the end of radio and TV license “was greeted by loud cheers and clapping from parliamentarians in the house.” Surely we have more important things to rejoice about? With the spread of the internet […]
iFast Market Outlook Poll 2011
iFast conducts an annual poll of the different fund houses to get opinions of their most and least favored investment sectors for 2011. A quick snapshot of this year’s poll results are as follows: Most favoured region: Asia 70%, Global Emerging Markets 15% Least favoured region: Europe 42%, Japan 27%, US 26% Most favoured Asian […]